The Dragon Pokemon Chronicles
by DigimonDragongirl
Summary: Today there are two peoples in the world of Pokemon: Pokemon and humans. Once there was a third....


The Dragon Pokemon Chronicles  
  
1 By Shelli-Jo Pelletier  
  
***************  
  
The sun shone down hotly on Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu as they traveled leisurely through the green countryside. It was a beautiful day, with a cool breeze keeping the heat from becoming oppressive and not a cloud in the azure jewel of the sky. For once, they weren't running away from angry Pokemon or Team Rocket or any other of the numerous dangers that always seemed to show up on days like this. They were just enjoying a walk down a wide road that led through the rolling scenery, with nothing but the softly sloping hills surrounding them.  
  
"Where are we now?" Misty wondered. Even her usual quick temper was evaporating under the nice weather.  
  
Brock studied the map in his hands, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Well . . . nowhere, according to this map."  
  
"Huh? What do you mean, Brock?" Ash asked, peering over the tall boy's arm to look.  
  
"Well, here's where we were." Brock pointed to the last city they had passed through. "And here's the direction we're heading in." His finger slid northward. "See, there's nothing written here. It's just the road we're on, and blank space."  
  
"That's weird," Misty commented. "I thought maps were suppose to tell you where you're going."  
  
Ash gazed around at the unchanging landscape of green hills. "Maybe it doesn't show anything here because there is nothing here."  
  
The other two picked their heads up from the projection of the land and looked around. "Good point," Misty acknowledged. "The mapmakers must have skipped this part because it was so boring."  
  
"We can just keep going until we hit the next city. Then I'll get my next badge!" Ash said. "What is it, anyway?"  
  
"The closest city's six days from here if we follow this road: Sankton City," reported Brock.  
  
"Six days? I don't want to walk through this boring place for six days," Misty complained. "Isn't there some shorter route?"  
  
"Pika pi!" Pikachu spoke up. Ash looked down at his feet. The little yellow Pokemon pulled on his jeans leg.  
  
"What is it, Pikachu?" he asked his Pokemon.  
  
"Chu pi!" It pointed down the road.  
  
Ash stared ahead. "Hey guys, take a look at that."  
  
"Huh?" Misty and Brock followed his lead.  
  
"I think it's a forest," Ash added. And it was. A dark green line of trees thrust up from the ground just within the limits of sight, slightly off to the left of the rode they were currently on.  
  
"And that's the direction of Sankton City," Brock told them. "If we cut through there it should cut our trip in half at least."  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Misty. "Come on Pikachu, I'll race ya!" She laughed and shot ahead. The little Pokemon wasn't far behind, and Brock and Ash quickly brought up the rear. With the bright day and the high spirits it was no time at all until they were standing before the closely grown tree line. The trees were full-leafed and green as only trees in springtime could be; everything brimmed with the song of life. They noticed a Pidgey or two flitting from branch to branch, and a flock of Spearows took off at the sound of their approach. Ash thought he saw a Diglett peering at them from under a bush, but when he blinked it was gone.  
  
Pikachu scampered off the road a few feet, then stopped and turned around. "Pika chu!" it called back to them.  
  
"Look, Pikachu's found a path," Ash pointed. They would never have noticed if the electric Pokemon hadn't found it. It was wildly overgrown, with only a few bare spots of hard-packed dirt showing through the long grass to even tell there was one to begin with. It was at least as wide as Brock was tall, leading from the road between two trees and into the wood.  
  
"Um, maybe we should just stay on the road," Brock hedged. "That path doesn't look like its been used in a long time. Wouldn't a path cutting the travel time to a city in half be more worn? And this forest isn't even on the map."  
  
Ash swallowed nervously. "Maybe there's something in there nobody wants to disturb."  
  
Misty brushed a strand of short red hair out of her eyes and snorted a laugh. "Don't tell me you boys are scared. It's just a bunch of trees and wild Pokemon. I'll prove it." She trotted past Pikachu and into the trees. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she called deeper into the forest, "Hellooooooooo. Anybody in there?" Upon hearing no reply, she turned back to her friends. "See? Nothing. Besides, Ash, I bet there's lots of interesting Pokemon in those woods. You could find something that would really show up Gary Oaks."  
  
"Oh, that Gary!" snarled the young Pokemon trainer. "Come on Pikachu, let's go!" The pair led the way along the wild path.  
  
Misty watched them pass her as Brock came up, folding the map with a sigh. "You knew that was going to work, didn't you?" he asked, resigned.  
  
"Yup," the girl smirked.  
  
* * *  
  
Despite Brock and Ash's early uncertainty, the trip through the forest proved uneventful. The full, thick trees cast the undergrowth in dark green shadow, but on the path the sun still shone down brightly. They sometimes caught a glimpse of one wild Pokemon or another, but the easily spooked creatures always disappeared before any action could be taken, often before they could even be identified.  
  
The minutes passed uneventfully, turning to hours as the fiery orb climbed higher and higher in the bowl of the sky. By the time it reached the peak of its arc the gentle wind had long since died away. Fortunately the shadows around them cooled the forest air. This wood was obviously a nice habitat for plants and Pokemon alike.  
  
Ahead, two large oaks stood parallel to each other on either side of the path like twin sentinels. Their branches met overhead and twined together, making a canopy of leaves that didn't permit so much as a single ray of sunshine to filter to the ground below. As the four travelers neared their attention was drawn toward it, mainly because the oaks were by far bigger than the rest of the trees in the woods, and because the sun shone so brightly on the rest of the path the space under loomed like a tunnel of darkness.  
  
"Chu?" Pikachu marveled softly. The little yellow Pokemon bounded forward to get a closer look, so it was several yards ahead of Ash, Brock and Misty when something happened.  
  
"HAULT!" an angry voice suddenly thundered all around them, making all four jump. It seemed to come from every direction at once. "WHO GOES THERE?" The voice was deep and loud, rage dripped from every word. There was no mistaking this voice had malevolent intentions.  
  
"Pi!" Pikachu cried in fear, running back to Ash as fast as it could and wrapping itself around his ankles. He could feel the little Pokemon's quivers vibrating his whole body. But Misty had beaten Pikachu in timing. She had shrieked and jumped behind Brock at the first booming word.  
  
They obeyed the voice and froze. Ash didn't have much of a choice. If he tried to walk any farther he'd end up flat on his face. "It's all right, Pikachu," he told his Pokemon.  
  
"Ka," it shivered quietly, refusing to release him. He didn't understand why it was so afraid. Pikachu was a brave fighter. Why did something as simple as an angry voice frighten it so much? Ash wondered . . . .  
  
"I'M STILL WAITING!" the voice rumbled.  
  
"Geesh, angry and impatient," Misty sniffed.  
  
Putting his other thoughts aside, Ash called out loudly, "We're just passing through! We won't be a bother to anyone!"  
  
There was silence for a moment. Then, "SO YOU SAY, BUT HOW CAN I KNOW YOUR REAL INTENTIONS?"  
  
"And skeptical too," added Brock. Misty nodded in agreement.  
  
"What?" cried Ash in exasperation, still addressing the voice. "What do you want from us, a blood oath?"  
  
"HMMM. NO, BUT IF YOU LEAVE YOUR LITTLE YELLOW PET WITH ME AS INSENTIVE UNTIL YOU ARE THROUGH MY WOOD I'LL ALLOW YOU SAFE PASSAGE."  
  
"Pika!" Pikachu shrieked, tightening its hold on Ash's legs. The poor little guy's day wasn't turning out to be as nice as it had seemed when they had started.  
  
"No deal!" Ash immediately answered.  
  
A deep growl echoed and re-echoed through the trees. Oops, he had made it even madder, whatever it was. Well, who cares? he thought angrily. He wasn't going to give Pikachu to any stupid voice, especially not in its current state. "Pika chu," the Pokemon whimpered pitifully.  
  
The voice chose that moment to roar, "IF THAT IS YOUR DECISION, THEN SO BE IT. PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"  
  
Brock and Misty backed away. Ash knew he couldn't call out Pikachu, that would be setting the little guy up for defeat. No one could fight well if they were terrified. And he couldn't send in any of his other Pokemon. What if whatever was happening to Pikachu happened to them? One Pokemon paralyzed with fear was enough. Ash decided this was one battle he was going to have to fight on his own.  
  
So they waited . . . and waited. Minutes passed and nothing happened, no combatants (Pokemon or otherwise) appeared. Misty and Brock hesitantly returned, even Pikachu eventually slid off Ash and quivered on the ground by his foot. Confused, he asked his friends lowly, "What do you think happened?" They shook their heads, just as clueless.  
  
"UM, AREN'T YOU GOING TO RUN AWAY IN FEAR?" the voice asked hesitantly. It had lost some of its intimidation, but none of its volume.  
  
Believing the voice's words betrayed its true nature, Ash grinned triumphantly. "Looks like this guy's bark is worse than his bite!" he declared. He strode forward confidently toward the towering oaks.  
  
"Be careful Ash," Brock called after him.  
  
He just waved the cautions aside. "What's the matter?" the black- haired boy taunted the forest and its invisible speaker. "Afraid you can't handle us?"  
  
The answer was an impossibly huge column of flames, shooting down from the overhead branches scant feet from Ash! A wall of fire sprang up across the dirt path to block their way, as if some flammable substance had been laid across and ignited by the sudden attack. Ash threw up his arm to protect his face, but the intense heat still drove him back to the others.  
  
"'Its bark is worse than its bite,'" Misty mimicked sarcastically. "Good going Ash."  
  
"Well how was I suppose to know?" he countered angrily. "Anyway, I bet that's just a Charmander or a Vulpix or some other fire Pokemon in those oak trees."  
  
Misty snorted. "Yeah right, a talking Charmander."  
  
"Oh, and what's your great idea?"  
  
"Guys, we don't have time for this!" interrupted Brock hastily. "Those flames are going to spread and this whole forest will catch fire!" As if the tall boy had just thought of it as he said it, he turned from Misty and Ash to look himself.  
  
Both arguers forgot their heated debate and turned their attention back to the flame barrier as well. But to everyone's surprise, the fire wasn't spreading at all. The original assault had stopped as quickly as it had begun, and the wall of fire neither died down nor grew any larger. The oak trees to either side and above weren't even beginning to blacken.  
  
"That's strange," Ash commented. A streak of yellow shooting by his feet startled him. "Pikachu? Wait!"  
  
"Pika!" it called back confidently. Its earlier fear seemed to have vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. A familiar crackle filled the air and yellow light flashed around the Pokemon. Before anyone could say anything more Pikachu's electric attack shot up into the oak branches.  
  
"Ow!" This new voice wasn't loud or intense, and it was unmistakably human. A sharp crack resonated through the woods like a gunshot as a large limb snapped and someone tumbled from overhead, straight into the flames below! Ash, Misty and Brock gasped but knew they wouldn't be able to do anything in time. Then, the fire wasn't there anymore. Each blinked to assure him or herself they weren't imagining things. They weren't. The fire hadn't blown out or died down, it was just gone. Not even smoke remained as whoever had been hiding above fell onto the path with a muffled, "Oof."  
  
The "whoever," they soon saw, was a young teenage girl. She wore a tattered dark green T-shirt with jeans and hiking boots, brown hair cropped raggedly short around her ears, and a beige backpack rested between her shoulder blades, saved from a hard impact with the ground by the angle of her fall. Even as they watched she tried to push herself to her feet. But the moment she put her weight on her right ankle a yelp she couldn't quite swallow escaped her lips and she sank back to the ground.  
  
The sound shook the friends out of their stupor. Pikachu was already springing forward, chattering so fast that not even Ash could keep up with it. The others weren't far behind.  
  
It wasn't ten feet away when the girl's head snapped up like a puppet on a string. Her eyes widened with fear. "Keep away from me," she gasped shrilly, trying to hide the pain she was obviously in.  
  
Brock, Misty and Ask slowed, not wanting to frighten her. Pikachu stopped and cocked its head, its black-tipped ears flopping over on one side. "Chu?" it asked.  
  
"Don't worry, Pikachu won't hurt you," Ash assured the strange girl. He stopped beside his Pokemon. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine," she snapped shortly. "Just stay where you're are." Again she tried to stand. She was halfway up before her right leg gave out. Misty saw what was about to happen and started forward to catch her. She never got there.  
  
Something hurdled out of the oak branches above so fast Ash and Brock didn't even have time to give a shout of warning to the redheaded girl. It fell on her heavily, knocking her back with its momentum. The air shot out of her in a whoosh as she hit the ground, and Misty found herself looking into angry green eyes inches from her own.  
  
"Misty!" Ash and Brock cried together, but neither moved. The thing that had landed on her, that now sat on her chest, a sharply taloned foot on each shoulder, was unlike anything either had ever seen before. It was about the same size as Pikachu, entirely covered in emerald green scales. It almost looked like a cross between a Dragonite and a Charizard, except it wasn't roly-poly like the former, it had none of the latter's brute power, and it rested on four feet instead of two. It was lithe, with a long thin neck matching its tail. Instead of feelers or a spike on top of its head it had a pair of softly pointed equine ears. Between them rose a row of lighter green spines that traveled down the neck to the very tip of the tail. A pair of Golbat-like wings, though now folded, were just behind its shoulders. Its face was a long snout, with a small horn between its nostrils and huge, entirely lime green eyes with circular black pupils. These were locked solely on Misty.  
  
"What is it?" Ash asked quietly aside to Brock. He shook his head, just as mystified.  
  
"I don't care what it is, just get it offa me!" ground out Misty through gritted teeth. The creature let loose a long, low growl. Thin lips pulled back to reveal the sharp teeth of a carnivore. She gulped nervously.  
  
"Come here, Stormweaver." The teenager had managed to climb to her feet, with the aid of a fallen branch. She leaned heavily on the makeshift walking stick with one hand, the other curled around a strap of her backpack. Ash noticed something he hadn't seen when she was on the ground: one of her eyes was a warm brown, the other turquoise blue, and both gazed at them with open suspicion. Her hair, though still hacked short, actually had strands of gold and auburn mixed throughout the brown. She might actually have been pretty if she wasn't so wild looking. Not that Ash noticed that kind of thing or anything.  
  
The green beast grudgingly climbed off the female member of the traveling quartet at her command. It stalked by Pikachu on all fours with a malicious stare to stand before the girl protectively. Even though it barely came up to her knees, the black look it gave them said it could take them all on anyway.  
  
"Pi!" the electric rodent squealed at the glare, scurrying behind Ash's legs. He blinked as he suddenly figured it out. That was what was frightening Pikachu so badly . . . whatever it was.  
  
Ash hadn't been the only one to notice the girl. Brock was struggling to keep from falling into his "pretty girl" mode. The look of the Stormweaver told him in no uncertain terms that it would be a very bad idea if he did. Fortunately for him she was tall enough to be almost gawky, and her mismatched eyes had a certain, unidentifiable look that dismissed any such notions. With only a moment of wavering he managed to bring his troublesome Achilles' Heel under control.  
  
"Stormweaver?" Ash was asking. "I've never heard of a Stormweaver Pokemon before." He pulled out Dexter, his Pokedex, and pointed it at the creature as Misty stood up and brushed herself off, grumbling just loud enough to let everyone know how thrilled she was.  
  
"Cannot find match. Not a Pokemon," beeped the hand-held machine.  
  
Ash was prepared for any response but that. "Not a Pokemon?!" he yelled.  
  
"Not a Pokemon?!" Brock and Misty echoed.  
  
"Pika?" Pikachu added.  
  
"If it's not a Pokemon, then what is it?"  
  
The girl raised an eyebrow at their responses. "Of course he's not a Pokemon. You really don't know?" All four shook their heads. "Hmm." Lost in thought, she nodded to herself. "Perhaps enough time has finally passed for them to forget," she murmured, then focused her duo-colored eyes on them once more. "I'll trust you'll now be leaving my forest? Right now." Then she turned on her stick without so much as another glance and began hobbling slowly away, out of the shade of the massive oak giants. The creature, Stormweaver, gave them one last look of disdain before turning his back on them and taking off with a few flaps of his leathery wings. He caught up to the girl and flew with her, slightly above her left shoulder.  
  
"Huh?" They stared after the two strangers until Ash cried out, "Wait!" and took off running after them. "That voice we heard, it said it owned these woods—"  
  
"That was me, genius," she replied without turning around.  
  
"But how—"  
  
"I owe you no explanation. Now go!"  
  
Please, we don't know exactly where we are and—"  
  
For the third time the girl cut him off. She whirled carefully to face him. "There's the path. Turn around. Keep going. Now go!" Stormweaver hovered in place and growled for emphasis.  
  
Suddenly Ash extended his hand. "I'm Ash Ketchum," he told her.  
  
Taken completely by surprise, the girl didn't have a quick reply. Heavy silence descended on the forest while Ash could do nothing but worry he'd made the wrong decision. Finally she sighed and took the offered hand in her own. "Aurora." Stormweaver stared at the girl in shock, then frowned fiercely at the ten-year-old before settling onto her shoulder lightly, perching like a large reptilian bird.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Aurora," Ash responded cheerfully. "That's Brock, Misty and Pikachu. We really didn't mean to trespass. We're heading for Sankton City, on the other side of this forest."  
  
Slowly, very slowly, Aurora smiled too. Her eyes cleared of the last traces of anger. "I realize you don't know about these woods," she said by way of an apology. "The path joins a road leading right to the city after it clears the trees at the other end. The populace stays well away from here. It's suppose to be haunted, you know." She winked her blue eye to show him exactly where that rumor started. "We don't appreciate visitors."  
  
"Why not?" Ash wondered as Misty, Brock and Pikachu convinced themselves that some sort of truce had been reached and cautiously approached.  
  
They neared in time to hear Aurora sigh again. "It's a long story. We're the only ones here, Stormweaver and I. Other than the Pokemon, of course."  
  
"Doesn't that get lonely?" Misty asked sympathetically.  
  
Instead of answering, Aurora cocked her head slightly and studied the little group fixedly. After a few seconds under the mismatched gaze even Ash began to feel uneasy, but abruptly the strange girl laughed. Nobody looked more surprised at the soft sound than Stormweaver. His wings rustled slightly and he curled his long tail around her backpack as if he was trying to catch his balance.  
  
Apparently some sort of decision had been made. Aurora tried to put on a front of grudging acceptance, but she wasn't trying all that hard. "Look, it's at least a day and a night before you get out of here. Why don't we escort you until you get to the end?"  
  
"I thought you didn't appreciate visitors," Ash reminded her.  
  
"Well, we don't. But I'm in a good mood, I'll let you through. Of course, the only way to make sure you don't cause any trouble in my forest is to keep my eye on you." She winked her blue eye again. Then she lowered her voice playfully. "Besides, Stormweaver is just dying to learn that electric move that knocked me out of the tree."  
  
Before they could reply to that the scaled creature squawked in outrage. "I do not!" he screeched indignantly in a sharp, grating voice. He stared at them angrily in the sudden silence that descended. "And just what are you looking at?"  
  
Brock was the first to recover from the shock. His mouth snapped shut with an audible click. "Wha-what is S-Stormweaver, exactly?"  
  
Aurora laughed again good-naturally. "I'll bet you all have lots of questions. Let's get started. I'll answer as many as I can." She turned heavily on her walking stick and set out down the path. Because of her twisted ankle—she assured them that that was all it was—her pace was slow and easy, but Brock and Misty didn't mind as they followed her.  
  
"Pika," Pikachu gestured before Ash could join his friends.  
  
"What is it, Pikachu?" He crouched down and the Pokemon leapt into his arms. "Oh, you just want a ride," Ash grinned as it scrambled onto his shoulders.  
  
"Chu!" Pikachu confirmed. Ash hurried to catch up with the others and fell in step with Aurora.  
  
* * *  
  
Despite her promise to answer their questions, for a long time no one spoke. Aurora's speed quickened as she got use to leaning most of her weight on the walking stick. Ash, Misty and Brock didn't try to strike up a conversation. Instead they took in the scenery. Trees stood silent as far as the eye could see on either side of the wide path. It was easy to believe the forest was as large as Aurora had said it was.  
  
After some time Misty decided the silence had gone on for long enough. "Well, aren't you going to tell is what that Stormweaver of yours is?"  
  
"Oh. Well. Um, Stormweaver is a . . . a. . . ." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Forgive me. You're the first people I've ever tried to tell this to. We haven't even had visitors in a rather long time. Like I said, the populace of Sankton knows better than to come here. And I've always succeeded in scaring off strangers, before you anyway. Guess that means you're more stubborn than most."  
  
"Well," sniffed Misty. "It's certainly stubbornness with Ash, but with me it's just bravery."  
  
Ash opened his mouth to retort, but Pikachu interrupted him before he could begin. The Pokemon and the emerald beast had been staring steadily eye-to-eye for some time. "Pi chu?" it abruptly asked the beast.  
  
The lime eyes turned to the Pokemon thoughtfully, without a trace of the contempt they held when gazing at Ash, Brock and Misty. "Pika," Stormweaver replied. "Pika chu."  
  
"Pika!" cried Pikachu happily. They settled into a rapid dialogue of "pi's," "ka's," and the occasional "chu."  
  
It was hard to be even more surprised than they already were, but they managed to pull it off. "He speaks English and Pikachu?" Ash asked in amazement.  
  
"Oh yes," Aurora nodded. "Dragons have the gift of language. They can understand almost anyone."  
  
Brock shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you quite right. Did you just say . . . ."  
  
"Yes, I did." Her tone dared them to laugh, and told them plainly what she would do if they did.  
  
"I thought dragons were just fantasy," Misty said carefully.  
  
"Exactly. Stormweaver, do you mind? It's very hard to hold a discussion when a dragon and a Pikachu are talking in your ear."  
  
"Fine," he sniffed, leaping to the ground. Pikachu followed suit and the two strolled ahead, deep in conversation.  
  
Aurora smiled fondly after them. "As I was saying, not many today know about them. Most think there are only two peoples in this world: the humans, and Pokemon. Long ago the third was common knowledge. The dragons were few, and they lived solitary lives in remote places, only joining briefly to mate. But they were real, and everyone knew it. Not the stuff of myth and legend as they are now.  
  
"Unfortunately, because they hardly even socialized much among themselves, let alone other species, no one knew how intelligent they really were. A few Pokemon Masters tried to capture them to train, but they refused to fight. A dragon works for no one, save himself." Her eyelids closed over her brown and blue eyes and a sorrowful look covered her face. "So people thought they were stupid animals, worse than Pokemon. As the human population grew and spread, they moved into the dragons' territories. Turned it into more hospitable areas—for humans. And they grew angry when the dragons fought back. It was their homes, after all.  
  
"Two human families, the Sangos and the Merlacs, brought it all to a peak. The families had been fighting for years, and finally an uneasy peace was made between them, though it was on paper only. No one from either side wanted to back down and admit they couldn't eventually beat the other. But while each new generation of Sango was becoming more good-natured and accepting than the last, as the Merlacs were evolving they only discovered new ways of treachery and deceit. They were just looking for a reason to start the feuding again."  
  
"And the dragons were perfect targets, right?" Brock hazarded.  
  
"Yes," Aurora sighed. "While the dragons were fighting harder and harder against the bias opinions that plagued them, the more flexible of the Sangos discovered their plight and wanted to learn more. They sent their most trusted pupil of knowledge—a now legendary young man among the Sangos named Jeremy—to their lairs in the mountains. He didn't return for months, and the months stretched into a year; the Sangos feared they had been wrong about the strange creatures. But one day he unexpectedly showed up at the Sango Manor, a year older and many years wiser. He told his story to the entire house of Sango, how the dragons were really intelligent creatures, that they just wanted to be left alone to live their solitary lives. The Sangos decided to help the prejudice situation."  
  
"Why did they want to help the dragons?" Misty wanted to know. "Didn't they have more important things to worry about, like the Merlacs?"  
  
"It was because of the Merlacs," the brown-haired girl replied, "that they felt the way they did. Some of the elderly were still alive when the two families had fought openly, and most regretted the cost of the battles. The Sangos had a saying, when describing something stupid or pointless—'What a Pokemonless thing to do.'—because even the Pokemon refused to befriend a Sango or a Merlac when the two families had fought."  
  
Ash looked shocked. "You mean a Pokemon wouldn't let them capture it?"  
  
"I've heard of that happening," Brock agreed. "Pokemon aren't just mindless animals, they have feelings and thoughts just like we do. Remember those Diglett at the site of that new dam in the mountains? The Pokemon refused to fight them, because they knew what we didn't."  
  
"Oh yeah," Ash remembered. "So what happened with the Sangos and the Merlacs?"  
  
"Well, with the treaty still in place, even if just on paper, the Sangos were safe for the moment. They sent a party up to the mountain lairs to propose to help. The dragons were suspicious at first, but do you blame them? They finally convinced them they really did want to help. Some left on journeys, to spread the word about the truth of the dragons. Some braver soles stayed with the dragons, protecting their homes against other people that came to try to force the dragons out. Eventually the Sangos became known as 'dragonfriends.' Each Sango child was raised beside the dragons, sharing knowledge and fellowship and protection.  
  
"But not long after the Sangos began their crusade to save the dragons, the Merlacs discovered their intentions. It wasn't hard; the Sangos openly defended the dragons and spread the word to whoever would listen. And the Merlacs greedily took this information, and plotted to use it against them."  
  
Misty gasped. "They used the dragons to get to the Sangos?" she exclaimed. Aurora closed her eyes and nodded. A sparkle of wetness appeared under her eyelids.  
  
"But that's not fair!" Ash cried. "The dragons weren't a part of their fight!"  
  
"Life's not often fair," Aurora said bitterly. "The Merlacs named themselves 'dragonslayers' and resolved to hunt down any dragon associating with the Sangos. They thought it would not only drive away the creatures their enemies were trying to help, but also anger the Sangos into restarting the rivalry. Instead, it had the opposite affect. Dragons have a proud sense of honor. They had accepted the aid of the Sangos, and they refused to take back that agreement. Instead they declared the Merlacs their enemies as well. The dragonslayers changed their policy, and soon any dragon crossing their path was in a fight for his life. Mothers, fathers, hatchlings, even nests of eggs. Nothing gained their mercy. They slaughtered them all, one by one. The Sangos redoubled their efforts to protect their friends, but while they had spent the years accumulating knowledge, the dragonslayers had spent them learning how to fight and how to win."  
  
There was a little silence, each person giving silent respect to the unjust story painted with eerie clarity in their minds. Finally Misty asked quietly, "None of the dragons survived?"  
  
Aurora shook her head. "Not one."  
  
Ash frowned, confused. "But what about Stormweaver?"  
  
The girl smiled a little. "Ah, that was the dragons' greatest success. Near the end, the last female dragon—a soft golden-yellow named Brightmorning—knew the dragons could not survive the dragonslayers' attacks. She had a nest of eggs, the last unborn dragons, and had kept it a secret from both human and dragon, hiding it in a location only revealed to a chosen few over the years. Then she went to her most trusted dragonfriend, a woman named Anna Sango, and desperately told her of her fear for her eggs. It was a dangerous move, because a pair of dragonslayers had found her and was on her trail. But she went, and asked Anna to protect the secret of the nest's position while she lured the dragonslayers away. Anna vowed to keep them safe with her life.  
  
"So Brightmorning left her friend for the final time—for all knew there was no escape once a dragonslayer targeted you—and Anna kept her word. She secretively watched over the place where the eggs rested and waited for them to hatch. But time passed without so much as a crack. Long after the last dragon took his dying breath she vigilantly protected them, until she was an old gray woman. And still, perhaps sensing that for now it was a world that hated dragons, the eggs didn't hatch.  
  
"When Anna was too old to make the journey to the hidden spot, she called her grandson to her bedchamber. The ten-year-old boy listened silently as she told him the entire story of the plight of the dragons. The boy was amazed. He knew them only as tales whispered around a campfire to scare children. But he loved his grandmother, and believed her every word. He sneaked out of his home that night and ran to the place his grandmother had told him. There, he found the four round eggs still silent and waiting, just as she said. He swore then and there to protect them with all his heart and bring the baby dragons into the world safely.  
  
"Anna Sango died content with the knowledge the vow she pledged would continue on in her grandson. He, too, grew up and found the eggs didn't quake. When he married and had a daughter, he knew he would have to pass the knowledge on to her. He waited for her tenth birthday, like his own so many years ago, before taking her to the eggs. He hadn't moved them. They had been undisturbed for almost three generations; he hadn't dare move them and chance discovery."  
  
Aurora lapsed into silence. It continued for so long that they wondered if the story was done, but finally she drew a deep breath that quivered. "B-but when the two returned to Sango Manor there was nothing left but a burned out husk of a home. Months later his daughter would discover an old friend had been eavesdropping as her father had told his story, and had betrayed them to the Merlacs. They had attacked after they left, knowing they could follow them to the nest but instead deciding to take their home by force first, for revenge, and then make them bring the eggs. She was frozen in terror by the sight of her destroyed home. Her father grabbed her by the arms before the Merlacs could notice their return. 'Go back for them,' he told her. 'It's up to you now. Protect them with your life. You have to bring dragons back into the world.' Then he turned her around and shoved her back in the direction they had come.  
  
"She stumbled, unsure and afraid. Her father didn't even look back at her as he turned to the remains of Sango Manor. A cry of discovery went up as the Merlacs spotted him. Now she ran. Driven by fear and her father's words she ran like she never had before, until her sides ached and her breath came in painful gasps. The sounds of battle floated to her on the breeze for far too long, but thankfully no one followed her. Her father's quick thinking had saved her from detection.  
  
"Reaching the location of the hidden nest by luck and will alone, she fell to her knees in exhaustion. And she wept. Wept for her lost father and her lost family and the heavy burden that had been placed on her young shoulders. Deep, wrenching sobs that tore from her throat and did nothing to ease the ache filling her chest. She knew the Merlacs would soon be after her. They knew she had been with her father, and they would figure out where she had gone easily. But she didn't care. Her family was gone. She had nothing but the clothes on her back and four useless eggs.  
  
"A small cry interrupted her grieving thoughts. Startled, she looked up. A tiny green creature crawled among the nest of eggs. Three eggs, and the remaining shards of one. It was smaller than her hand, blind and helpless and calling for its mother. And as it cried again her heart melted. All the grief, the pain, the tears were gone. This creature truly had no one, not another of its kind had been alive for years, and it would plainly die if she left it there. In the empty space in her heart a tiny warmth flared. This infant had no one but her. The story her father had told her returned. She was a Sango, a dragonfriend. And she promised herself these four were under her protection now."  
  
Aurora's tone made it clear the story was done. Stormweaver and Pikachu had long since ended their conversation and now walked alongside the four humans; the Pokemon listening with ears flat and tail drooped in sorrow at the horrible story, the dragon with an unreadable expression on his alien face.  
  
Ash, Misty and Brock were silent. Somehow, "I'm sorry," didn't seem appropriate. "But," Ash eventually realized, "if that dragon was Stormweaver, why isn't he with that girl?"  
  
Misty and Brock groaned. "Ash, you're so dense," Misty griped. "Can't you figure it out? She's the girl!"  
  
"What?" he exclaimed. "You mean you're a—?"  
  
"Sango," she said softly. "Aurora Sango, dragonfriend." Without warning her face twisted briefly in pain as her stick caught on a raised root in the path. Only a swift catch from Brock saved her from another spill on the ground. He felt the intense lime green eyes on him without looking down. Apparently it wasn't only the human that protected the dragon. He quickly righted her. "Ow," she moaned. "Thanks, Brock." She looked skyward. "It's getting dark. I have a campsite not far from here with space for a fire and running water. We should head there."  
  
Ash looked up, surprised. He'd been so intent on Aurora's story he hadn't even noticed the setting sun. His stomach growled. "Good idea," he agreed.  
  
The girl led the way off the path, her limp much more pronounced. Before too long the trees parted to reveal a little clearing. There was a bare spot in the middle encircled by stones, and a stream at the far end. Just like she had said. Aurora collapsed on a log that had been obviously dragged close to the fire-pit to sit on with a groan of relief. She painstakingly pulled off her well-worn boot as the three other humans in their party dragged up more logs. Pikachu scampered up a tree at the edge of the clearing, and Stormweaver curled up next to his dragonfriend on the ground.  
  
"My gosh, look at that ankle!" Brock exclaimed when he returned. It was swollen and throbbing from its hard hike through the woods. "You shouldn't have been walking around on that!"  
  
Aurora looked down. "It's nothing," she dismissed the injury. "I'll be fine."  
  
"Not if you keep walking around on it. From now on you stay put. We'll set up camp." He sent Ash to get firewood and Misty to the stream to soak a bandanna in the cold water for the swelling. The wild girl was surprised. These weren't just some kids passing through to the next city. They were travel-wise. In no time at all a fire was brightly crackling in the circle of stones and Brock was cooking something from the seemingly never-ending supplies he had tucked away in his backpack.  
  
By the time it was done being prepared Aurora had stretched out on the ground with her back against the log, admitting her ankle felt much better. So she wasn't leaning on her backpack, she had taken it off and set it in her lap. Everyone accepted a bowl from the cook graciously as Stormweaver climbed to his feet and backed away from the fire without a word. At a distance where his takeoff wouldn't upset the flames he flapped a few times and leaped upward, quickly disappearing into the night.  
  
"Where's he going?" Misty asked the girl curiously. Aurora hadn't even looked up as he had left.  
  
"Oh, hunting," she said casually, not even thinking of the answer. "He goes out every night."  
  
Silence descended on the campsite. Misty, Ash and Brock's faces paled. "H-hunting?" Ash stuttered. "Hunting what?"  
  
Confusion clouded her face, then quickly cleared as a mixture of humor and anger played over it. For a moment the two emotions warred, then she sighed in disgust. "You see, that's the work of the rumors from the old days. I mentioned dragons hunting and you all immediately pictured them stealing babies from their cribs or attacking lone travelers in the middle of the night, didn't you?"  
  
They had the grace to look embarrassed.  
  
"I'll have you know Stormweaver only hunts small fish in ponds and rivers. He doesn't have a choice about what he eats; that's just the way his kind is. I have to keep a vegetable garden for myself and fish too. We can't just buy lunch at the next town or pull it out of a backpack like some people. If we don't find food, we don't eat." Aurora's mismatched eyes flashed angrily; though at them, the treatment of dragons, or life in general they couldn't tell.  
  
"We're very sorry," said Brock seriously. "We didn't know."  
  
She sighed and continued a little more subdued. "No, I'm the one who's sorry. You guys didn't disserve that. It's just, it's not always easy living out here. Sometimes we go hungry, sometimes we're cold, and. . . ." She trailed off, staring into the fire. Then she forced herself to admit, "Sometimes I'm lonely. Stormweaver is a wonderful friend, but it's just the two of us."  
  
In the heavy silence Ash coughed. "Gee," he murmured. "I, uh, didn't think about that. What do you do when it rains?"  
  
Aurora smiled at the thoughtful concern. She hadn't let humans in her wood for so long she sorely missed human companionship, even though she had known when she accepted the duty of protecting Stormweaver that she would have to sever all links with the normal word, including those of friendship. That was the real reason she'd allowed them passage. She was lonely.  
  
The mood around the campfire lightened when her anger melted into the smile. "We get wet!" she grinned at his question. "When we can't find shelter anyway. It's not as bad as you think; the weather's usually pretty mild here. In winter we move to our other forest down south. Word in Sankton is the ghosts hibernate."  
  
They were getting use to that blue-eyed wink.  
  
By the time everyone had finished eating the sun had set and a full moon was beginning to rise above the trees as the sky faded from red to blue to violet into black. The night was as cloudless as the day had been, letting the light from the silver globe and the tiny pinpricks shine down on them. Between that and the fire substituting the sun's warmth there was plenty of light to see by. And no one quite felt like turning in.  
  
"Aurora," Misty ventured.  
  
"Mmm?" Her two-colored eyes rose from their silent contemplation of the dancing flames.  
  
"This afternoon you said you would answer are questions."  
  
"Oh yeah, after the dragons' story I completely forgot. All right, I don't mind sharing our secrets. As long as you all promise never to use the information against dragons, of course."  
  
"Never," they all agreed.  
  
"Chu," Pikachu added. It was relaxing happily by Ash's feet after finding an apple tree at the edge of the clearing.  
  
"Okay, well the voice's an easy one. A dragon's throat is so oddly shaped they can make all sorts of weird sounds. It was like Stormweaver yelled through a long hollow tube—which, in a sense, I guess he did. I just told him what to say."  
  
"And what about the fire?" asked Brock.  
  
"Well, dragons aren't Pokemon, but they do have certain attacks they developed to defend themselves during the human settlement movement. The first is their most powerful, called Mimic. They can imitate any Pokemon's attack, given enough time to learn it," Aurora smiled proudly for her absent friend. "It's not easy, but Stormweaver's very good, especially for one so young."  
  
"Young?" Misty repeated. "You mean Stormweaver's just a kid?"  
  
"Yeah, he's our age. When dragons are full grown they match the size of an Lapras, easy." Brock and Misty looked momentarily nervous at that. A Lapras got plenty big.  
  
Ash hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, his mind elsewhere. He snapped his fingers. "That attack. It was Charmander's Flamethrower, right?"  
  
She nodded with a grin. "Right."  
  
"But I've never seen a Pokemon do that wall of flames."  
  
"Well," Aurora chuckled. "I'll admit, that one was my idea. There's a species of flower in here that's very flammable if you crush it to powder, but the particles also have something in them that controls the fire and keeps it from ignited anything else. Once the powder is completely burned—takes about a minute or two—the fire goes totally dead. It was pure luck that the fuel was consumed just as I fell. When someone comes I lay the stuff on the path. Usually the voice is enough to scare them away, but if not that little show always does it . . . almost always, anyway."  
  
"It seems like you're very careful not to let anyone pass through here," Misty pointed out.  
  
Aurora nodded. "When Stormweaver hatched, I had no home and no one to turn to. We wandered the land for so long, just trying to survive and escape the dragonslaying parties out looking for us. Afraid the rest of the world would treat him like the Merlacs would, I was too afraid to enter any cities or towns to ask for help. I learned to live off the land. Dragons, I soon found out, were born with survival instincts. They have a knack for finding water, and shelter too. The times were rough, but we managed.  
  
"Until we found this forest. It was paradise compared to wandering around! People from Sankton would travel the path, and the occasional stranger, but we hid from them at first. We discovered that no one owned the woods here, and many wild Pokemon made it their home. So we did too. That was when we started the ghost pranks. Some chance sightings of something flying among the trees, strange noises, waking up to find your camp had been raided during the night. Stormweaver even convinced some of the Pokemon to help out, the ones who liked the peacefulness of an undisturbed forest.  
  
"Now we keep a constant watch over all the boarders. The Pokemon help out with that, too. If any humans try to get in, someone alerts me and Stormweaver. Then we take care of them, as you know first-hand."  
  
"But why did you ask for my Pikachu?" Ash wondered, a little hurt. If she wanted a Pokemon so badly she could go catch her own. She had no business demanding his best friend.  
  
Aurora didn't miss the tone of his voice. "I didn't, believe me. I just knew no Pokemon trainer would take the chance of having his Pokemon taken from him. I thought if anything would make you leave, that would. And if we could scare your Pokemon into running away, you might follow. So I had Stormweaver use his Fear."  
  
"Fear?" Brock asked. "What's that?"  
  
"The dragon's second attack. They can make any Pokemon absolutely terrified. A Pokemon can't fight if it's too scared to move. Still, this is the lesser of Stormweaver's two attacks. When dragons use it they go into a kind of trance, totally helpless. They can be attacked by anyone else at the time and can't defend themselves. Also, Fear only works on Pokemon, not humans."  
  
"That's why we weren't affected," realized Ash. She nodded.  
  
"I don't understand," Misty confessed. "If the dragons developed these attacks to defend themselves against people, why do they both involve Pokemon?"  
  
"Dragons are more closely related to Pokemon than humans, so their attacks come easier to the dragons. After some wild Pokemon learned how the humans were treating the dragons, they were angry. They began trying to teach them how to defend themselves. The dragons picked up their attacks so easy it became their first attack. Then, when the humans tried to use their trained Pokemon against the dragons, they didn't want to hurt them. They developed a non-violent way to stop them from attacking: Fear."  
  
No one replied, having run out of responses. There was an easy silence entirely different than the speechless moments of uncertainty that had constantly plagued them as everyone thought about all they had learned. "Wow." Ash shook his head in amazement. "You sure know a lot about dragons."  
  
Aurora giggled, giddy with the happiness of company, and tucked a brown strand of hair behind her ear. The firelight reflected off the red and gold glints in it when she moved. "It's not like we have much else to do besides talking out here," she replied. She shifted against the log to get more comfortable, absentmindedly wrapping one arm tighter around her backpack. "Okay, you guys. Your turn."  
  
"Our turn?" Misty repeated.  
  
"Your turn. I told you my life; you tell me yours."  
  
So Ash began his story. He told how he had overslept the day he was due to get his first Pokemon, and how he ended up with the last, a Pikachu. After they had escaped a flock of Spearows—"Nasty creatures," Aurora put in. "There's no reasoning with them."—they met Misty. She pointedly took over the story to add in a few details he had forgot. Then he told about the various cities that they had traveled through, including Pewter City, where Brock had joined the quest. He recalled all the Pokemon he had caught, how his Butterfree had left with its mate, and how his Primeape had won the P-1 Grand Prix. By the time he was explaining how he had captured a Muk, Stormweaver was winging into the clearing.  
  
He landed gracefully on Aurora's log by her shoulder and folded his wings against his back. The firelight cast his scales green-red and made his large eyes seem to glow. But they didn't hold any anger as he looked across the flames to the three humans, as they usually did. Instead he dipped his head in a simple greeting, seeming to have accepted them. Stormweaver, as the last dragon alive, had every right to hate any humans beside the Sangos, but he had done a lot of thinking in his absence. Aurora wasn't the only one who was lonely.  
  
As if reading his thoughts Pikachu scampered around the circle of stones keeping the fire controlled and jumped up on the log beside him. The four humans began their discussion again, leaving the two smaller creatures to their own conversation.  
  
"Pika," Pikachu offered, extending a round brown morsel.  
  
"Chu pi?" He asked what it was as he took the small piece of food.  
  
The electric mouse explained that Brock made the best Pokemon food around. The dragon looked at the food dubiously. But not wanting to refuse the gift, he cautiously tasted it.  
  
"Kachu!" he exclaimed in surprise. It was good!  
  
"Cha!" Pikachu agreed, delighted. It started chattering about life with Ash, Brock and Misty, about the battles it had fought and the friends made. Stormweaver listened eagerly. Though most dragons used to prefer remote, alone habitats and tended to stay in them, Stormweaver often daydreamed of traveling farther than the boundaries of his forest. He knew he never could, and that his dragonfriend sacrificed her normal humanity to keep him safe and protected, but that didn't stop his craving for adventure. Sometimes he flew to a tree just on the border of the woods to watch people passing by the road. He'd never let them see him, and the sight of a human still sent anger coursing through him as if it was a programmed response, but he couldn't stop the little voice inside that yearned to go with each of them.  
  
So he wasn't bored as Pikachu talked about its exploits. After, Stormweaver told of the sparse thrills that he'd experienced in his lifetime, including the time a dragonslayer had found her way into the forest not long after they had. Fortunately she passed through without sighting them. Then the green dragon gave the pointy-eared Pokemon a long look out of the corner of his lime eyes. Hesitantly he mentioned Pikachu's electric attack that he had witnessed earlier. To dragons, teaching attacks was a solemn experience shared only by close friends.  
  
"Chu!" Pikachu told him easily that it was no problem. They left the fireside with a few words of explanation to practice at the other end of the clearing, safely away from the humans but still in plain sight despite the darkness.  
  
Soon bright yellow flashes were lighting the night. The four humans trailed off in their conversation to watch. When a particularly big one crackled across the open air Aurora whistled. "That's one strong Pikachu," she said respectively.  
  
Ash straightened proudly. "That's right. And I trained it myself."  
  
Misty snorted. "Now don't start that up again, Ash. Your head was just getting back down to a manageable size." Everyone laughed—except Ash. And even he was in too good a mood to stay angry for long.  
  
Suddenly the beige bag in Aurora's hands quivered. Misty, Ash and Brock gasped as she jerked up straight in surprise. But instead of the shock written on their faces, hers showed only excitement. She quickly unbuckled the top flap and reached inside. Then, as if just remembering they were there, she looked up. Aurora cleared her throat and glared at them sternly. "What you're about to see . . . it's my most carefully guarded secret. You can never speak a word of this to anyone, understood?" They nodded vigorously. Her face split into a wide grin. "Then get over here quick and see!"  
  
They didn't need a second invitation. "Stormweaver, Pikachu, come here!" Aurora called as they scrambled around the fire. The dragon and the Pokemon hurried over. Stormweaver slithered through the ring Misty, Brock and Ash made around the backpack while Pikachu leapt up on Ash's shoulder.  
  
Aurora reached into the backpack again. Hidden by shadows, they couldn't make out what emerged until Brock shifted to let the firelight shine upon it. What they saw made them gasp aloud—but with wonder this time, not shock.  
  
Sparkling in the dancing light of the fire as if dusted with glitter was an egg as large as her hand. Bits of soft grass clung to its perfect shell and spilled a little from the inside the pack. With the moon's silver light shining down they could tell the large globe was tinted pale pink in color. Aurora cupped it gently in both hands as it trembled slightly.  
  
"It's beautiful," Misty breathed. Smiling, Aurora eased it into the redhead's hands before reaching into the knapsack again. She withdrew two more: a light sky blue and a soft yellow one. They both quivered too.  
  
"Chu," the electric Pokemon murmured softly, its round black eyes shining. Stormweaver arched his long neck with pride.  
  
"They are my unhatched siblings from the hidden nest so long ago," the dragon declared. "Someday they will hatch and I will not be the last dragon in the world."  
  
"Are they going to hatch right now?" Misty asked in awe, eyes riveted on the pearly sphere she held in her hands.  
  
"Not yet," Aurora told her. "Soon though. They shake more and more as the hatching day nears. This is its second time this week!" Her blue and brown eyes were alight with happiness. "It's been so long, so many generations. I can't believe it's almost time!"  
  
After his initial amazement Brock's breeder curiosity made him ask, "Do they all hatch at once?"  
  
"Usually, I think," Aurora replied. "We still don't know why Stormweaver hatched so early. He says it's because he 'felt my grief in the egg' but there isn't exactly anyone we can consult to tell if that often happens. I carry them along with me everywhere. We can't trust leaving them alone, ever."  
  
"They're real pretty," said Ash.  
  
"Pika," Pikachu agreed. When the pink egg abruptly stopped shaking Misty reluctantly handed it back. The blue and yellow ones stopped a few moments after. Aurora packed them into the backpack again, gently covering and separating each with the soft grass filling the inside, before buckling the top back on.  
  
Everyone gradually took his or her place around the fire again. They said little, moved by the almost magical current in the air and memories of the sparkling eggs. Those three spheres of life were the future of an entire race. The importance was not lost on the six.  
  
But it was getting late. The full moon was high overhead, and before long everyone decided it was time for sleep. Misty, Brock and Ash pulled out their sleeping bags, while Aurora stretched out by the log she had been using as a backrest comfortably uncovered, her backpack securely in her arms—and now they knew why. Stormweaver curled into a ball by her side. His long neck curved back and his tail rested under his chin. Pikachu opted to sleep on the soft grass outside the ring of stones too. They left the fire burning low, and each person fell into a safe, restful sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
When the group had been asleep for some time the undergrowth at one edge of the clearing rustled as someone shifted uncomfortably. "Quit yer movin'," a sharp voice hissed. "Ya want 'em to wake up?"  
  
"Well we've been laying here for hours," another male voice complained. "Why can't we go now?"  
  
"Because, ya moron . . . um, because they might be fakin', that's why. We only get one shot at this. It has ta be perfect."  
  
A female voice sighed in exasperation. "Don't be so melodramatic, Meowth. They can't be faking because they don't know we've been following them all day. That brat and her creature were so busy with their new friends," she sneered the word, "they didn't even notice us!"  
  
"Yeah," the male voice agreed. "They didn't think anyone else would sneak into the forest while they were entertaining guests, but the genius of Team Rocket didn't overlook such an opportunity."  
  
"Will you two quit the chit chat? We got somethin' more unusual than the rarest Pokemon to catch!"  
  
The female voice snapped, "We know." Then it grew blissful with visions of the future. "We'll give the dragon and the eggs to the Boss, and he'll have to reward us! We'll be the heroes of Team Rocket!"  
  
"Uh . . . ." Huge white eyes with thin slits peered from the dense shrubbery into the camp. The now low flames of the dying fire reflected brightly off Stormweaver's sharp teeth and talons. His tail twitched and wiggled out from under his chin in his dreams. Meowth gulped. "Maybe we should just grab the eggs and split."  
  
"Do I detect a note of fear in your voice, Meowth?" the male voice chided. "Don't tell me you're afraid of that little thing."  
  
"O-of course not!" Meowth sputtered hastily. "But if we . . . if we try ta grab the eggs and the dragon, he might escape and take 'em with him! They can't run off by themselves, ya know."  
  
"Hmm. He does have a point, James," the female voice agreed. "And I have an idea! When those idiots come looking for their stolen eggs, we'll set a trap to catch the dragon and that Pikachu!"  
  
"That's what I like about you Jessie. Always thinkin' ahead."  
  
"Why thank you Meowth. Now get out there and get that backpack."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"Shhhhh!" the other two hissed.  
  
"Why do I have ta go out there?"  
  
"Because," Jessie impatiently explained, "it was your idea. Besides, you're a lot smaller than we are. So go!" The bushes rustled even more as two black boots kicked the cat-like Pokemon out into the clearing.  
  
"Ow," he muttered, rubbing his bruised posterior. "Me and my big—" He suddenly remembered he was in sight of the campsite and slapped a paw over his mouth. Thus protected from future outbursts, he silently began creeping closer to the unknowing sleepers. Slowly, slowly he edged forward, all the time thinking how he was going to be top cat again when the Boss saw he had come up with the brilliant plan that got them the dragon eggs. Before he quite realized it, he stood beside the slumbering girl clutching the pack to her chest.  
  
Now, how am I gonna . . . . Meowth thought. He looked around to survey the scene. Those three annoying kids were snoring on the other side of the low fire. The Pikachu slept mere feet away from his very position. The cat Pokemon had to hold himself back. He was so close . . . the Pikachu was right there! But he knew he'd never get out without waking it up. Then he'd be—as Team Rocket so often put it—blasting off again.  
  
But wait a minute, where was the dragon? It'd been here just a second ago. Meowth looked wildly around, then backed up a step to get a more complete view of the camp.  
  
Suddenly a high-pitched shriek echoed through the clearing. Meowth screamed and jumped as Stormweaver, who had been sleeping peacefully right behind him, leapt to his four feet. "Someone stepped on my tail!" he roared with more surprise than actual pain. Everyone else shot upright at his first shriek, finding themselves unexpectedly awake and staring blearily around in confusion.  
  
And the backpack tumbled from Aurora's sleep-numbed arms.  
  
"Ha ha!" Meowth cried upon his landing. Before anyone could react he seized the bag and ran for the woods.  
  
Now very awake, Aurora was on her feet in an instant, sprained ankle the farthest thing from her mind. "Stormweaver, Fear now!"  
  
The dragon stood in front of his dragonfriend and unfurled his wings, going rigid as a stone. His shadow cast by the dying fire spread before him like a strange, dark angel and his eyes took on an unnatural green glow that only Meowth saw as he cast a backward glance at the disordered camp as he ran.  
  
That last glance was his downfall, though sight wasn't necessarily essential for the attack to work. Stormweaver locked eyes with the Pokemon and refused to release his gaze. Meowth slowed, then completely stopped in his getaway. Try as he might, he couldn't look away. He began quivering so hard his whiskers shook as the rest of the campers stumbled up and joined Aurora anxiously standing behind her dragon.  
  
"Hey, doesn't he look awfully familiar?" commented Ash of the Pokemon frozen in fear.  
  
"That's Meowth!" Misty exclaimed. "And you know what that means."  
  
"The rest of Team Rocket can't be far behind," supplied Brock.  
  
"Team who?" Aurora asked, already limping past Stormweaver to retrieve her stolen bag. Meowth stuttered unintelligibly at her approach, too terrified to move. He couldn't look at her, couldn't look away from the glowing green eyes of the dragon, but he knew she was coming. And it just made him more petrified.  
  
But before she reached the Pokemon the bushes at the edge of the clearing exploded outward, blinding her with a shower of leaves. Aurora threw her hands up to protect her face.  
  
"Prepare for trouble!" a female voice called out. Three loud groans rose from behind her.  
  
"And make it double!" a second voice followed the first.  
  
"To protect the world from devastation."  
  
"To unite all peoples within our nation."  
  
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."  
  
"To extend our reach to the stars above." Aurora blinked rapidly and waved her hands as the leaves settled. An older boy and a girl stood on either side of the terrified Meowth, wearing white, black and red outfits. The girl tossed her ankle-length red hair ravishingly as she plucked the backpack out of the Pokemon's quivering paws. The boy smiled cruelly, green eyes half hidden behind purple bangs.  
  
"Jessie," the blue-eyed beauty announced.  
  
"James," the boy introduced.  
  
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light."  
  
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight."  
  
Meowth gave a timid squeak.  
  
"How'd you get in here?" Aurora demanded in shocked outrage. "Get out!"  
  
Jessie smirked. "You're in no position to make demands, little girl." Unbuckling the top of the pack in her hands, she reached inside and withdrew the pale pink egg. "Now tell your dragon to turn off that what- ever-it-is and let poor Meowth return to normal . . . or I may just be a bit of a butterfingers." She pretended the large globe slipped through her fingers for a moment.  
  
"You wouldn't!" Aurora gasped.  
  
"Dare to take the chance?"  
  
Aurora's features hardened in fury. She spun around. Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu tensed uncertainly behind Stormweaver, but she slightly shook her head. They couldn't do anything to compromise the eggs safety. They were the dragons' only hope for the future. "Stormweaver!" she barked.  
  
Like coming out of a deep trance, the dragon slowly blinked. A small shudder ran under his scales and he shook his head as if trying to clear it. Aurora didn't wait to inform him of their predicament. She turned back to Team Rocket expectantly. Meowth was already coming around. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.  
  
"Now, what do you want?" ground out Aurora through slightly clenched teeth.  
  
"We have what we came for," James told her silkily.  
  
"And don't think of following us," Jessie added with a dark tone in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, these eggs are ours now. If ya don't want 'em endin' up scrambled, you'd betta forget about it." Meowth grinned, fangs bared. He wasn't happy about what they'd done to him, and he was enjoying his returned freedom. The three members of Team Rocket backed away quickly, fading into the blackness of the forest as suddenly as they had come with the beige pack.  
  
The anger drained from Aurora's face as the thieves disappeared, taken over by intense sorrow. Choking on a sob, she numbly sank to the forest floor. This was all her fault. All her fault. She had let her guard down—just because she was lonely—and now the entire dragon race had to pay for her incompetence. The eggs would soon be found by the dragonslayers, if not sold by whoever Team Rocket was, and they would be destroyed. Knowing there must have been someone caring for them, the Merlacs would find her. There was no stopping it. Then Stormweaver would die too. She had failed an oath sworn by her Sango ancestors generations before she was born. An oath none of them had failed to accomplish. It was all her fault. She didn't even notice she had buried her face in her hands and wept.  
  
Stormweaver made a strangled sound in his long throat. He leapt forward, his only thought to comfort his dragonfriend, but any words died before they left his thin lips. As the realization of what had happened crashed upon him he began to whimper, the mournful noise trailing off to a high keen of anguish. The young dragon collapsed in Aurora's lap as if his energy had been sapped, large tears welling in his lime-colored eyes. The girl threw her arms around him and together they grieved for their lost future, completely forgetting their new friends.  
  
A voice reminded Aurora. "Please, don't cry." She looked up to the face of Misty, smiling kindly, but with a smoldering fury deep in her eyes. "We'll get them back."  
  
"That's right!" declared Ash angrily. "Team Rocket hasn't beat us yet! Pidgeotto, go!" He pulled a red and white ball from his belt and the large bird appeared in a flash of white light. "Follow Team Rocket, Pidgeotto, but don't let them see you," Ash instructed his Pokemon. It chirruped and took off with a flap of its wings, quickly disappearing over the treetops.  
  
"Pika chu, pi," Pikachu consoled Stormweaver, reminding him not to give up hope. They weren't defeated just yet.  
  
The emerald dragon picked up his head and sniffed his long snout. "You're right," he muttered. Turning to face his dragonfriend, his eyes flamed with anger and he growled at the departed egg-snatchers. "We haven't protected them for so many years to lose them now," he snarled. "We will get them back."  
  
Tears blinded Aurora's sight once more, but not from grief this time. It felt so wonderful to have good friends. Scrubbing her eyes with the back of one hand, she took Brock's offered grip with the other and let him pull her to her feet. Stormweaver leaped out of her lap and ran for the stream running smoothly at the other end of the clearing.  
  
"No one knows these woods like I do. If they're in here, I'll find them!" he called back confidently to the group. He hit the water with a small splash and in seconds he was paddling out into the deeper water. His form wavered, then vanished completely—just like a Vaporeon!  
  
Aurora stood silently, staring at the quiet water long after Stormweaver disappeared. The four travelers didn't know what to say, and there was nothing anyone could do but wait. The silence grew heavy and tense. At last the girl turned to her new friends. "Who's Team Rocket?" she demanded tightly.  
  
Ash scowled. "They try to steal rare Pokemon," he explained. "They're always trying to catch Pikachu. They must have thought your dragon eggs were even more valuable and decided to take them instead."  
  
"They bother you a lot?" asked Aurora.  
  
"Team Rocket doesn't know the meaning of the words 'give up,'" Misty told her. Then the redhead's shoulders slumped and she looked ashamed. "Oh no," she whispered. "Team Rocket must have been following us. If we hadn't stopped here they wouldn't have gotten the eggs!" Brock and Ash looked at her before nodding guiltily.  
  
"Cha," lamented the electric Pokemon.  
  
But Aurora shook her head at their self-accusations. "No, this is my fault. I shouldn't have let my guard down. It was my duty; it was my oath. I'm the one who failed the dragonfriends." Her head dropped. A sorrowful shame hung in the air around the campers. Even the fire chose to completely die at that moment, as if blaming itself as well.  
  
They all took their seats on the logs again in the new darkness, the moon and stars the only light, each thinking their own thoughts until a flutter overhead announced Pidgeotto's return. But the bird continued to circle the campsite, and Ash realized it couldn't see to land. He quickly called out Charmander to ignite the firewood again.  
  
With the light Pidgeotto could land before Pikachu, who eagerly inquired about what it had found. Turning to Ash, the yellow Pokemon repeated the information.  
  
"Pika pi chu. Pika pikachu," it informed its trainer.  
  
"Pikachu says Pidgeotto saw them heading out of the woods and toward Sankton City!" gasped Ash. "It had to come back when the trees wouldn't hide it from Team Rocket anymore. Good thinking, Pidgeotto," he praised his Pokemon. "Now return!" The bird became as insubstantial as light as the Pokeball sucked it back in.  
  
"Sankton?" sighed Aurora in despair. "How are we going to find them if we have to search the whole city? None of us has even been there before. And I couldn't leave Stormweaver alone in the forest." Anger burned in her voice, anger at herself. "I won't make the same mistake twice."  
  
"Hmm," murmured Ash. "Maybe you won't have to."  
  
Misty, Brock and Aurora turned him. "Huh?" they exclaimed together. "What do you mean, Ash?" added Misty.  
  
The young Pokemon trainer folded his arms, deep in thought. "Remember what Bill, the lighthouse keeper, said? New Pokemon are being discovered all the time. And we thought Stormweaver was a Pokemon when we first saw him. We could pretend he was your Pokemon, Aurora." Ash laughed. "Usually Pokemon travel in their Pokeballs, but with Pikachu with us he won't even look that out of place!"  
  
"Pika!" nodded the electric rodent happily.  
  
Brock nodded too. "That's a real good idea Ash. That way we could all go look for Team Rocket, and we wouldn't have to worry about leaving anyone behind."  
  
Aurora looked apprehensive at the thought of going into the city, running her hand through her short hair nervously, but even she admitted it was a plan. Finally she relented. "As long as Stormweaver doesn't mind, of course."  
  
The dragon coincidentally reappeared at that moment, leaping out of the water with a splash. He had materialized again, and could only confirm what Pidgeotto had reported. He, too, had stopped where the stream emptied out of the woods and flowed away from the road westward. He would have had to leave the water to continue following and that would have revealed himself, jeopardize the eggs' safety. The dragon was very careful about that fact and took no chances, fully believing Team Rocket's threat. He did relate one thing Pidgeotto hadn't: Team Rocket had changed out of their uniforms. They now wore normal clothes that wouldn't look out of place on a bustling street. Then the three thieves had hightailed it out of the woods and into the city darkened by nightfall, probably hoping to keep them from following.  
  
"But it's not going to work!" Aurora stated firmly. She told Stormweaver of Ash's idea. His lime green eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in intense contemplation. His friends saw the war being waged inside the small creature, the distrust of the human city against the thought that the eggs were in the hands of the enemy. But he couldn't let anything stand in the way of his unborn siblings. After a short hesitation he agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
They left just as the sun was starting to peak over the horizon, sending feeble rays of pink light through the forest, and found the main path once again. Aurora began the day with her walking stick, but soon insisted she felt fine and discarded it. She proceeded on without a limp, a night's rest and concern for her charges proving the perfect cure. Stormweaver rode on her shoulder, as Pikachu perched on Ash. Before noon the trees began to thin ahead of the group.  
  
"There," the wild girl pointed before them. Rolling green hills, the same as on the other side of the large wood, could be seen between the thinning trees. The forest-green shadows surrounding them were fading away as the sun broke through more and more. The air warmed delightfully. The path slowly widened until it was finally as broad as a road when it emerged from the tree line.  
  
Aurora's duo-colored eyes squinted as she gazed north, into the distance. "And there's Sankton," she reported. They looked, and saw the wide path join a real road not far ahead—the one they had left to enter the woods at the beginning of this amazing journey. Just as it joined the horizon a dark patch rose into the sky.  
  
Misty groaned at the stretch of road. "You know, if we had my bike we could be there in no time flat. But no, somebody had to totally destroy it!" She glared at Ash so no one would have to guess just who that "someone" was. He cringed. Brock just rolled his eyes and sighed.  
  
Though Aurora had no idea what she was talking about, she didn't bother asking. Her blue and brown eyes had become alive with determination as she looked upon the city. The only thing that mattered now was finding those eggs. "Come on," she told her new friends, and marched toward the distant skyline without looking back. Misty, Brock and Ash hurried to catch up.  
  
* * *  
  
They arrived at noon, as the yellow sun beat down from above and no shadows were cast onto the ground before or behind them. It was a small community, as far as cities went. More of a town really, the homes were simple and cozy and most of the businesses were family-owned. The only buildings looking as if they truly belonged in a city were the Pokemon Center and the Gym in the center of town, both dominating—not to mention towering—over the rest of the city structures.  
  
Aurora's steel determination melted more and more, the closer they got to Sankton. By the time the entrance of the city loomed it was all she could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. But by repeating her objective over and over again in her mind, she forced herself onward. Once inside the girl and her dragon—er, Pokemon—could only stare in awe. Aurora hadn't been in such a community since she had been forced to leave her home, and although Stormweaver was thrilled to finally be seeing something beside the trees of his forest, Sankton City surpassed anything from his wildest imaginations.  
  
Ash glanced around uneasily to see if his plan would work, watching people going about their daily lives on the streets. At first no one noticed the newcomers, then a few gave them furtive glances, then some not quite so surreptitious. A couple stopped and stared outright at the strange green creature riding on the girl's shoulder as low conversations broke out among the passersby. That snapped the pair out of their reverie in an instant, and all six travelers tensed, not even daring to breathe, as they waited to see what would happen.  
  
A young child suddenly giggled happily, pointing at the strangers and asking his mother a question. As if a spell had been broken, the city- dwellers shook themselves out of their stupor. They smiled to each other (some even giving the four humans and two so-called Pokemon kindly glances) and continued on their ways. The group heaved a collective sigh of relief and proceeded on toward the center of town. They had passed the first obstacle in their way, now they had to find Team Rocket.  
  
"We should stop at the Pokemon Center first," Ash thought out loud. "We can ask around there if anyone's seen them." Aurora, feeling out of her league, nodded her head readily. Better to let them lead in this place, she figured. It was a strange feeling. She was so used to being in control herself and taking care of her charges. But she knew nothing of the city, and accepted with a silent sigh that she would have to rely on their experience here.  
  
The Pokemon Center was high-tech and busy. Inside, people of all age and description—though most were of the younger range—hurried about as though they all had important duties to perform. Along with the differing people, Pokemon of every type littered the main area where the small party entered. The wild girl recognized many of them: Spearow, Pidgey, Rattata, a Poliwhirl. But many also amazed and confused her. The rock with the big arms, for example. And the cream-colored creature with all the tails. And what was that four-legged, fiery red Pokemon with the long ears and neck ruff? Maybe Stormweaver won't be so out of place here after all, she mused.  
  
Ash marched boldly up to the desk that sat at the back of the large front room, Pikachu still on his shoulder and looking around at its fellow Pokemon with interest. Brock and Misty were right behind him. Aurora, Stormweaver self-consciously hiding his head in her short brown hair, followed more uneasily. It felt like everyone's eyes were on her as she made her way to the back of the room.  
  
"Excuse me," the black-haired trainer began politely, seeing no one at the desk. At his voice a woman poked up from underneath. Her rose- colored hair split into two neat hoops and her nurse's outfit was immaculate. She smiled warmly at the trainer, whom Aurora saw had a humorous gleam in his brown eyes. She glanced at Brock and Misty. They shared a small smile between themselves. She didn't understand what was going on, but felt it wasn't the time to ask.  
  
"Yes, young man?" the nurse asked pleasantly. Her warm voice relieved the girl.  
  
"We're looking for two Pokemon trainers and a Meowth who might have came in here," Ash told her. He gave her Team Rocket's description, along with the beige backpack, leaving out any specifics of clothing.  
  
The nurse frowned thoughtfully, her pink locks swaying. "A lot of people come in here every day, young man, and I can't be expected to recall everyone. But now that you mention it, I believe . . . yes, three did come in, not too long ago actually, that match your description. I remember the Meowth was quite rude. They used the phone, there." She pointed to the left of the desk along the back wall. Turning to look, they saw a single phone and viewing screen in a cubicle bolted there at waist-height. "Then they demanded to know if Arin was still the leader of Sankton Gym," the nurse finished. "They certainly were rude."  
  
Ash thanked her sincerely before turning to face Brock, Misty and Aurora. Huddling in a circle, the group discussed what their next move should be. "I bet they went to the Gym," declared Misty immediately. "We should get over there and question that Gym leader."  
  
"Wait a minute," cautioned Brock. "Maybe we should check out the phone first. Team Rocket may have left behind some kind of clue to their plans for the eggs."  
  
"Good point, Brock," Ash nodded. "What do you think Aurora?"  
  
The girl blinked in surprise, as if not expecting to be asked. But she shrugged and nodded too. "That sounds good, Ash," she told him. Her voice had the tone of one who didn't entirely understand the situation and was trying desperately to catch up. The young trainer looked at her in concern, but her duo-colored eyes were now fixed on the phone behind him. The four friends agreed to try the phone before heading for the Gym, then taking it from their depending on what they learned.  
  
Ash, Misty and Brock hurried to the phone, leaving the wild pair to follow behind them. Aurora was about to do just that when the nurse called her over. She hesitated, not knowing if she could disobey this person who appeared to be in charge and casting an imploring gaze after her friends, but they didn't see. Afraid to make a scene, she ducked her head low and shuffled up to the desk. Fear suddenly blossomed in the pit of her stomach. Did this nurse know enough about Pokemon to tell Stormweaver wasn't one? But it was too late to run now.  
  
"Excuse me, what's your name, young lady?" the nurse asked, not unkindly.  
  
"Aurora, ma'am," she mumbled downward. At Sango Manor, the woman of the highest position—her mother—had to be treated with the most obedience and respect in public at all times. Unsure whether or not she was suppose to here, she decided to play it to the hilt to be safe.  
  
"Aurora, could you look up at me please?" Reluctantly she picked up her head and glanced at her through her ragged bangs with her blue and brown eyes. The nurse smiled. "Thank you. My name is Nurse Joy, and I'm very pleased to meet you. Are you new in Sankton City?"  
  
Thinking of the ghost rumors, Aurora almost smiled. "You could say that, ma'am."  
  
"Well, I'm sure you'll find it's a nice place to visit. But I'm just curious about your Pokemon. I've never seen one like this before. What can you tell me about it?" Now the nurse's blue eyes fastened on the green creature sitting on her shoulder, still trying to hide behind her hair.  
  
Aurora's mind kicked into super speed. Her first feeling was one of intense relief. The nurse thought Stormweaver was a Pokemon! Then anxiety flooded her as she tried to recall everything Ash had said when he purposed the plan. She had to think up something that would explain enough about him to satisfy Nurse Joy's curiosity. Afraid the silence would become suspicious, the girl launched into an explanation.  
  
"Well he's, ah, a new species of Pokemon. You know, how they're being discovered all the time? This is-is Stormweaver. Yeah, a Stormweaver Pokemon. The f-first one captured . . . by me. And, uh, he's the flying type . . . obviously. The wings, I mean. Th-that's about all I know, for now. We're just getting to know each other," she stumbled to a stop as Joy continued to stare at the green-scaled little guy. Feeling her eyes on him, two lime green orbs peaked through the brown strands furtively.  
  
The nurse finally looked Aurora in the eye again. She braced herself for accusations, disbelief, more questions . . . anything except what she heard. "He's quite shy, isn't he?"  
  
"Um, yes . . . he is. I caught him in the woods. Uh, a woods very far from here," she amended when she felt a thin tail slap her lightly from behind. "And this is the first city we've been in together." She gave Joy a tight-lipped smile. "I think he's scared of all these people in here. That's why I want to join my friends and l-leave." That sounded so obvious! Aurora moaned to herself.  
  
But the nurse was smiling in understanding. "Okay then, you'd better do what's best for your Pokemon. And he looks a little thin, make sure you feed him well. New Pokemon especially must be shown Pokemon trainers will take good care of them. Congratulations on your find!" With a last cheery wave Nurse Joy ducked back down behind the desk for a moment, then stood back up and disappeared through a set of double-doors.  
  
Aurora sagged against the counter top, weak with relief. It felt as if a Snorlax had been lifted from her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she took one deep breath, then another. Her heart slowly stopped beating wildly against her chest like a Pidgey trying to break free. We're going to be all right, she told herself. We'll find our eggs, and everything will be all right again.  
  
A sudden touch on her shoulder made her jump at least three feet in the air. Whirling, she prepared herself for anyone from Nurse Joy again to Team Rocket itself. Instead, she found herself face to face with Ash. "Don't do that!" she gasped. Stormweaver, apparently just as startled, hissed angrily at him and thrashed his tail.  
  
Taken aback, Ash snatched his hand away from her shoulder. "Sorry," he gulped. "What are you doing?"  
  
"What am I doing?" repeated Aurora. "What does it look like I'm doing!? I'm standing here, letting that nurse grill me about my strange Pokemon, while you three are playing with a telephone! Here I am, praying for someone to come rescue me from—" She cut herself off in mid-sentence, realizing how loud her voice had gotten in her fear and anger and seeing the three stricken face before her. She sighed and shook her head, her voice back to its normal level when she continued. "Sorry, I got scared. That nurse wanted to know about Stormweaver, but I'm pretty sure I gave her a satisfactory answer. What did you find at the phone?"  
  
They looked at her with concern now, but she ignored them as Brock started to recount what they had discovered. "Team Rocket didn't leave anything around the phone, but then Ash thought of hitting redial."  
  
Aurora brightened. "Anything?"  
  
Ash shrugged. "Not really. It was a voice-only call, and the guy on the other end talked weird. He said he was the manager of someplace or something, then hung up."  
  
Misty shook her head. "Boss," she corrected him. "He said he was the boss of something, but we really couldn't hear anything other than that."  
  
Calmed now, Aurora assimilated the information with a sober nod. "To this Sankton Gym, then?" she offered. "We don't have time to waste standing around." They quickly agreed, and the party of six left the Pokemon Center.  
  
Outside the wild girl paused as her blue and brown eyes scanned the busy streets once again. Peripherally, she saw Brock, Misty and Ash heading towards the Gym, rising above the other buildings not far down the street. But her attention was fixed on a sudden movement she noticed across the way. It was only a flash of something, and then it vanished into a dark alley before it could even be identified. Despite the fact that it could have been almost anything, could have been because of any person on the street, Aurora swore it had something to do with her and her friends. An eerie feeling settled around her, as if someone was watching her that she couldn't see.  
  
Don't be silly, she told herself sternly. Of course there are people watching. This was a city, after all. Swarms of people passed by every moment, eyes occasionally met hers. She shook her head. She just felt uneasy because she hadn't been in so populated an area for so long. That was all. She probably hadn't even really seen anything. Just her eyes playing tricks. Still. . . .  
  
"Stormweaver," she whispered, "did you see anything dart into that alley across the street just now?"  
  
The scaled head shook back and forth on the long serpentine neck. "No," he answered, just as lowly, in a voice tinged with awe. "I was not looking that way."  
  
Aurora turned to follow his lime green gaze. The Sankton Gym loomed over her four friends that had gone on ahead. Not wanting to be left alone on the crowded sidewalk, she hurried to catch up. The shadow cast on them by the immense structure grew darker and the air cooled as they neared. By the time the six stood before the large front doors of the Gym even Stormweaver was shivering on his dragonfriend's shoulder. But Aurora wouldn't let the reverence that the building seemed to inspire in visitors penetrate her shield of resolve. Without pausing she strode forward and pushed her way inside.  
  
It was dimly lighted, and it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust. Like a photograph developing, the details of the interior eventually became clear to the small group. And they weren't heartening. The place had a cool, pristine look to it, like a room that nobody visited but was kept dust-free nonetheless. There were no adornments on the gray walls; no plants or other cheery objects decorated the room. A dull tan carpet—totally design-less, but immaculate—covered the floor. The whole thing spoke of detached, but efficient, attention. Aurora didn't know about anyone else, but it made her feel small and unimportant.  
  
The only sound was the sudden whisper of something moving over the carpet as a door directly across from them opened without warning. A small, solemn-faced boy stood by the open doorway and gestured them in silently. By his posture and uniform he seemed to be a servant. Aurora, remembering the few who worked at Sango Manor and therefor the only one of them who knew how to act around one, bobbed her head in thanks and quickly crossed the room. The others followed, and they filed through the doorway into the immense room beyond. The young boy stared straight ahead, not meeting anyone's eye, and swiftly closed the door behind them.  
  
The room they were in now was much bigger than the front entrance and better lighted as well. A huge mat painted with white lines completely overlaid the floor. It appeared to be some sort of arena, or playing field. This must be where the Pokemon battle, Aurora thought to herself.  
  
By silent agreement, none of the six friends had said a word since they entered the Sankton Gym. That only made the sudden, loud voice more startling as it shot at them from across the room, laced with snotty arrogance and an obnoxious whine. "Well, what do you want?"  
  
The short figure belonging to the voice marched across the mat in their direction with the air of one who owned the world and knew it. Despite the fact that he barely came up to Ash's chin, his expression when he neared enough for them to see it proclaimed he looked down upon them all. He had short, spiky blond hair and dark green, conceited eyes. Aurora stared at the boy in disgust as he stopped before them, arms folded expectantly; she couldn't believe she even had to talk to this person. But if it was the only way to get to this Arin, then she would do it. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been looking at them as if they were little more than insects. An old expression her mother was fond of saying popped up and startled her; she hadn't consciously thought about her old life for quite some time indeed. "First impressions are the most important, because you only get to make one," her mother used to say. Well, this boy had certainly made a first impression.  
  
"We need to speak with the Gym leader," she informed the boy with exaggerated patience. She had to forcibly reign in her temper. A sudden disturbing thought occurred to the wild girl: Was this how her new friends felt when they first met her? She could remember her own angry words and actions and winced inwardly. Now she knew how it felt from the other perspective.  
  
The boy—who looked about fourteen or so—snorted scornfully. "And why would I want to speak with you?" he sneered.  
  
Aurora heard a part gasp, part groan beside her that matched her plunge of despair. "You're the Gym leader?" moaned Ash. She had almost forgotten they were with her. Glancing sideways, she saw Pikachu had jumped to the floor and looked ready for a fight. Misty and Brock stood behind Ash and herself, and all of them had the same look she felt on her own face: detestable loathing. They didn't want to listen to this snot any more than she did.  
  
"That's right, and don't forget it. Hey kid, why isn't your Pokemon in its Pokeball? Don't tell me you can't even control it. Why can't I ever get a real challenge?" muttered the Gym leader to himself. The trainer and Pokemon's faces darkened in matched fury.  
  
"Pikachu's my friend! I don't want to control it! We—"  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Arin cut him off pointedly, gazing at Aurora suspiciously. Or, to be more precise, gazing at Stormweaver. She felt her palms go sweaty under his ugly stare.  
  
"This is my Pokemon," she informed the Gym leader. "And we need information about two people and a Meowth who might have come here. They stole something very important of mine, and I want it back."  
  
Arin ignored her words after the first sentence. "Pokemon? I know every Pokemon, and I don't know that one. What is it?" It was a command, not a request.  
  
Aurora stiffened. "If you must know, it's a Stormweaver, and it's a new species. Now, did you see the ones I'm looking for or not?"  
  
His smile wasn't a pleasant one, as if he had a surprise to reveal that they wouldn't like. "Oh, you mean Team Rocket?" he feigned innocence.  
  
Misty gasped. "How did you know?" demanded the redhead.  
  
The short Gym leader waved his hand in a dismissing way. "I was invited to join them a while ago."  
  
"No why does that not surprise me?" muttered Aurora to her friends. Arin hadn't heard, and continued his boasting speech.  
  
"But, of course, I had to decline. A Gym leader has to be present at all times, to handle challenges and whatnot. I couldn't just leave my Gym in the hands of anyone else, and certainly none of the idiots in this city. But I did promise to help the Team if they were ever passing through." His tone proclaimed that it was plainly an honor to be given his "help."  
  
Aurora had had enough. "Fine," she snapped. "If you're such a great friend of theirs I'm sure you won't be giving us any information. We'll be leaving, gladly." Arin wasn't the only one who could play the snotty role. With a last look of disdain she turned on her heel and began marching for the door, hearing Ash, Misty and Brock right behind her.  
  
Losing none of its arrogance or contempt, the Sankton Gym leader's voice rang out after them, "I didn't say I wouldn't also help you." When they turned back with wary interest his face broke into a triumphant sneer. "If you can beat me in a Pokemon battle, I'll consider telling you where they're heading."  
  
"I accept!" cried Ash immediately. He and Pikachu were still angry, and wanted to settle their score, but Arin only looked at them as if amused.  
  
"I don't think so, kid. I want a battle with her, with the Stormweaver."  
  
Shocked silence engulfed the room. For a long moment no one said a word. Everyone waited for Aurora's response, the Gym leader impatiently glowering, Ash, Misty and Brock tense with uncertainty. But the girl's mind had frozen. How could she refuse? Pokemon were trained to battle, it was what they did. Yet, she couldn't send Stormweaver out to fight against a Pokemon. For a split-second she actually considered it, but her mind flat- out recoiled from the idea. In her stunned state, she couldn't put words to why, but she knew she couldn't ask her friend to battle.  
  
Arin's impatience wore out. "Well?" he snarled. "Why are you hesitating? Unless you're afraid?" Seeing her face darken he grinned nastily. "That's it, isn't it? You couldn't train your Pokemon if your life depended on it, and so your fabulous new species is a weakling. You won't fight because you're afraid I'll hurt your poor little lizard. Why, I bet you haven't won a single—"  
  
"I accept!" The humans in the room gasped, even Arin, because the words didn't come from the supposed Pokemon trainer but from the small green creature, his long face contorted in fury, on her shoulder. Before anyone could act he leapt to the floor, spreading his emerald wings, and entered the ring with his head held high. "Call your Pokemon to battle, Gym leader," challenged Stormweaver.  
  
To his credit, the short blond boy recovered quickly. He wiped the shock off his face and replaced it with cool derision as one would put on a mask. Then he returned to the other side of the room smoothly, taking his rightful place as Aurora hesitantly stepped up to hers. Casting one look back, the dragon saw her mismatched eyes begging him to reconsider, but Stormweaver had only two thoughts in his mind: That this human knew where his unhatched siblings were being held, and that his honor was in question. He gave her a brief smile to try to reassure his dragonfriend, then returned his attention to his opponent.  
  
When Ash realized what was happening, he thought fast. Before the match could begin he whipped out Dexter and rushed forward. "Here." He thrust the small machine into Aurora's hands, but she only stared at it dumbly. Things were moving way too fast for her; she couldn't think, she couldn't act! "Use it!" he hissed, then retreated so he wasn't in the way.  
  
Arin held a red and white Pokeball in one hand, studying his opponent from across the mat. For all his obnoxious attitude, Arin was still a good trainer. He couldn't have become a Gym leader if he wasn't. He could tell, just by looking her over, that the girl he was about to fight was afraid. Too afraid to give her Pokemon good commands, which only bolstered his already swelling self-confidence. But the strange gleam in the lime-colored eyes told him this wasn't going to be an easy match. Well, first things were first.  
  
"Do you know the rules for competing in a Gym battle?" he demanded.  
  
He saw a moment of doubt on her face. Oh, this was going to more fun than he had first thought. He only grinned in anticipation when her slightly hesitant voice insisted, "Of course I do!"  
  
Too fun, and too easy. With a cry of, "Pokeball, go!" he threw his challenger into the arena.  
  
There was a blinding white light as the Pokemon was released. When Aurora's sight cleared, there were two fighters in the arena. At first all she could think was that a tank had somehow appeared on the mat, but then the tank shifted its stubby legs and tossed its head impatiently. She gasped; that thing was a Pokemon! As the gray-plated beast inspected its opponent—who was less than half its size—with beady eyes from under heavily armored brows, Aurora briefly closed her eyes. No more thinking about what had gone wrong, no more berating herself for letting Stormweaver get into this situation. Pushing all her feelings away, she grabbed the rational part of her mind and dragged it to the surface. Think clearly, act now, and feel after. "What is that?" she demanded of the Pokedex, opening her brown and blue eyes again.  
  
The hand-held device beeped. "Rhyhorn," it informed her. "A rock/ground type Pokemon. Its attacks include Horn Attack and Slam. Its heavy armor protects it from all but the strongest attacks."  
  
"Right. Stormweaver!" she called, "Rock types are weak against water, and ground types are weak against flying. Take off and Mimic water attacks!"  
  
Arin didn't even wait for her to finish speaking. "Rhyhorn, Horn Attack, go!" The massive Pokemon lumbered forward with amazing speed, its nose spike lowered and ready to spear the small dragon. Stormweaver froze for a moment, caught off guard, before leaping hastily into the air. The Pokemon jerked its head up as it charged under, trying to catch him. He felt the whoosh of air caused by the large horn slicing by just under him and yanked his tail up. That hesitation had almost cost him, and the battle had barely begun!  
  
The gray Pokemon skidded to a halt and whirled to face the hovering dragon. Stormweaver waited for a glimpse of the glaring eyes, then sucked in a deep breath and summoned a Hydro Pump. Those watching couldn't recall afterward exactly where the water came from, whether from his jaws or his front claws or somewhere around his chest, but suddenly gushing water shot from the hovering creature to hit the grounded Pokemon full in the face. A bellow erupted from the gray tank and it sank to its knees under the onslaught.  
  
"No!" Arin screamed in rage. "Shake it off, Rhyhorn! Get out from under there!"  
  
The Rhyhorn struggled, but couldn't overtake the weakness flooding its body from the pressure of the water. Stormweaver started to give a wild cry of triumph. It trailed off into one of distress when he realized he was running out of strength. As the water slackened and finally slowed to a trickle the Pokemon tank slowly pulled itself back up, and if it was glaring at the dragon before it was seething with fury now. It had underestimated the tiny creature when it had first seen him, it wouldn't again.  
  
"Rage Attack!" exploded Arin. "Slam that insect!" Stormweaver watched the Pokemon intently. But he was still surprised when it shot forward with another burst of amazing speed and actually leapt into the air straight at him!  
  
"Duck!" he faintly heard Aurora yell, but he was preoccupied with preserving his life. Snapping his wings shut, he fell . . . and the Rhyhorn fell right on top of him.  
  
The breath was pummeled out of him as he hit the ground, trapped under the behemoth's front foot. Black stars danced in his vision, and through them he could see the wrath in the Pokemon's red eye, inches from his own. For the first time since the battle began, Stormweaver was afraid.  
  
Pushing through the emotions, he tried to think. Had to think, had to act. His first instinct was to use Fear; he didn't want to hurt this Pokemon. Dragons and Pokemon had always had an understanding among themselves. But Fear would send him into the trance. They would be at a stalemate, one too afraid to attack and the other unable to. His only option left was Mimic. But Mimic what?  
  
The Rhyhorn continued to hold his gaze with its own. It started to lean its weight forward, pressing Stormweaver further into the mat. The dark stars expanded, covered most of his sight. He struggled to draw a breath into his body as the Rhyhorn had struggled to escape his cascade, with as much success. Far away a voice was crying, "Call him back! Call him back!" It wasn't Aurora. Must be one of his new friends. . . .  
  
"Stormweaver, come back!" Aurora screamed in anguish, watching the dragon trapped beneath Rhyhorn's heavy foot. Dimly the rational part of her mind told her he couldn't come back, obviously. But her emotions had swarmed back up and left no room for reason. "Come back!" she called again. "Come back!"  
  
Ash, Misty and Brock couldn't interfere. There were rules to a Pokemon battle and they were trainers, had to obey them. But Aurora wasn't really a Pokemon trainer. It wasn't her fault she didn't know the rules. Ash cupped his hands around his mouth and tried to gain her attention. "Aurora, you have to give up! You have to forfeit the match!"  
  
The girl whirled, gratitude shining in her eyes through her numb haze. Spinning around again to face the Sankton Gym leader, the girl opened her mouth to shout. But someone cut her off.  
  
"No!" The voice was weak, smothered, and pure defiance. A dry crackle filled the air over the battle arena, then a burst of yellow light. Stormweaver's newly acquired Thundershock enveloped the damp Pokemon tank eagerly. It wasn't very large or particularly strong, but it was an attack brought on by desperation. The Rhyhorn roared and recoiled, releasing the dragon.  
  
Stormweaver was a flash of green lightning himself. He shot out from under the Rhyhorn as soon as he felt the pressure leave his body. Too weak to take flight again, he ran across the mat as fast as his shaky legs could take him. His immense opponent had been stunned, but was by no means defeated. Stormweaver ran to gain time, to put distance between them, and to think.  
  
Arin's sneer dropped off his face as the green streak fled across the mat. He had thought it was funny, watching all the kids crying for their poor, little Pokemon. And that trainer was so stupid she didn't even know how to end the match! So stupid she didn't even command her Pokemon correctly, but let it fight by itself. Well, Arin wasn't going to give his fun away so easily. So much for new species of Pokemon.  
  
But the flying lizard had gotten away, Arin had to give it credit. It might actually have become famed, like the Legendary Birds and Mewtwo, if it hadn't gotten stuck with such a crummy trainer. Apparently this Pokemon was like a Ditto, could use the attacks of other Pokemon. Arin had faced a Ditto before, and he had won! This wouldn't be any different. "Okay, Rhyhorn, Body Slam again, now!"  
  
Again the Rhyhorn charged. The hulking giant ate up the precious distance Stormweaver had made in moments. Glancing behind him, the dragon saw the Pokemon coming up fast and spun on his tail. Hoping for anything to confuse the brute, he dived forward. Only a last minute roll enabled him to avoid the pounding feet, and this put him behind the Rhyhorn. Despite his heavy panting and lapsing strength he was about to summon a Water Gun when a fabulous idea came upon him. With a leap and a bound Stormweaver launched himself into the air, coming down squarely on the Rhyhorn's back!  
  
The Pokemon tank stopped short in surprise. Its head twisted first one way, then the other, looking for its opponent. It turned in a circle, still to no avail. Only the furious shout from its trainer, "Above you, Rhyhorn, on your back!" finally clued it in. Craning its neck, it managed to glimpse lime green eyes and an exhausted, laughing grin mocking him.  
  
Rhyhorn raged, ran around in circles, twisted this way and that. Stormweaver held on for dear life, his claws scrabbling over the thick plates of the Pokemon's back. Then it tried leaping into the air to disengage its rider. A furious buck that would have made a wild stallion envious finally threw the smaller creature off. But he didn't come back down. Using the added boost, Stormweaver managed to remain air-born, though he felt his wing muscles burn with the strain. Ignoring the stabbing pain, he increased the tempo of his wing beats and invoked a Sand Attack. The sudden wave of sand slammed into the gray tank on the mat. The blast pushed it back several paces, eyes closed again the force and the stinging particles.  
  
This was most fortunate, for Stormweaver found he couldn't keep the attack up for very long at all. As the gale of coarse grains vanished as quickly as it had come, the dragon's wings refused to work for him anymore. While the Rhyhorn blinked blearily in confusion Stormweaver half-glided, half-plummeted to the ground directly where it had been standing moment before. He eyed the Pokemon warily, noticing it was breathing heavily too. The emerald dragon heaved a mental sign of relief even as he gasped for breath. He had been beginning to think his adversary as invincible as the tank it so resembled!  
  
Both battlers had halted in their attacks, too weary to continue on. They locked eyes and waited for the moment the other would make the first move, both secretly grateful for the chance to rest. But Arin had had enough of waiting. He drew a deep breath, ready to order another Horn Attack, when something took him completely by surprise. His competitor was racing out onto the mat!  
  
Aurora heard Ash whisper, "Get back!" as she began to run out into the arena, but ignored him. Forget the stupid battle rules, this had gone on long enough! Interposing herself between the fighters, she faced Arin challengingly—which meant she had her back to the Rhyhorn. Stormweaver glared at it dangerously through the girl's legs, but the Pokemon didn't seem the least bit interested in her. After a swift glance of annoyance at being interrupted, the Rhyhorn returned its gaze to its opponent.  
  
"Enough of this, Arin!" Aurora called out strongly, surprising both of them with her loud, sure voice. "We're not getting anywhere with this. Both our Pokemon are good fighters, equally matched! Having them beat each other into a bloody pulp isn't going to prove anything. Let's end this and call it a tie." Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Stormweaver and the Rhyhorn stared at the girl, stunned.  
  
Arin was more than stunned; Arin was speechless. This . . . this went against every rule and moral fiber of what Pokemon battling stood for! You didn't just end it in the middle and call it a draw! Sure, you could forfeit, but that wasn't the same thing at all! What did this girl think she was doing? It had been obvious she was a bad trainer, obvious she had lied when she said she knew the rules, but did she know anything about Pokemon training at all? And how did this idiot catch a brand-new species of Pokemon, one that fought well even without commands? It just wasn't fair! Why, what Arin himself could do with a Pokemon that powerful. . . .  
  
Aurora took the Gym leader's silence as an affirmative. "Then it's settled," she stated firmly. "A tie. Good match, Arin. You're Rhyhorn fought really well. Now, where did Team Rocket say they were heading?"  
  
The blond-haired boy finally found his voice. "Wha-what? Just wait one minute. You can't call a draw!"  
  
"Why not? Why can't we both just say our Pokemon are good fighters and leave it at that?" A small note of nervousness crept into her voice. She had been hoping to pull this off quickly, before Stormweaver was seriously hurt. But this boy didn't seem to share her feelings.  
  
"You just can't!" He sounded as if he was trying to explain something to a very small child. "It just doesn't work that way. You can't interrupt a Pokemon battle unless you're giving up. And you certainly can't call a tie. . . ." Arin's offensive voice trailed off and an abstract expression crossed his face. The patronizing look melted into an ugly smile. Aurora took a step back. The Gym leader had just thought of something. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she didn't like it.  
  
"A tie, huh? Well, I do have more important things to do today, and you're hardly worth any more of my time. All right, I agree. And to show how much I appreciate you letting me battle with a new Pokemon, I'll even tell you where Team Rocket was heading. It's not my problem, after all, if someone's after them. I'm sure they can handle four little kids and their measly Pokemon. They headed down to the harbor around Sunset Lake, warehouse C-5 if I remember correctly. I'm sure if you hurry, you can catch them." The blond Gym leader turned away as if they were no more concern. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have Gym leader stuff to attend too."  
  
As if he had been summoned—though no one had heard or seen Arin do anything—the small boy who had let them in opened the door again, startling Ash, Misty and Brock. He gestured for them to leave, but first they waited for Aurora to gather Stormweaver up and join them, returning Dexter to Ash as she did so. As emotionless as a statue once again, he waited for them to file through and closed the door, stepping inside the Sankton Gym leader's room and leaving them alone. As the door swung shut they heard the unmistakable sound of a Pokeball retrieving its Pokemon. Then all five of her friends turned on Aurora and exploded with words.  
  
"What in the world gave you that idea? You can just. . . ."  
  
"Did you hear how that creep talked to us? I should go back in there and. . . ."  
  
"Pika pika!"  
  
"I don't like the way that Arin suddenly agreed to help us. . . ."  
  
"You should have let me finish that battle! I could've kicked—"  
  
Aurora held up both hands to fend off the torrent. When she finally got them quieted she first turned to the creature once again on her shoulder. "Stormweaver, that fight had gone on for long enough. I really didn't think he was going to tell us anyway, and in any event we don't have time to delay. Or have you forgotten that our little adventure has an objective?"  
  
The dragon looked away guiltily.  
  
Feeling much more like herself now that she was back in charge, Aurora returned her attention to the others. "And I realize what I did wasn't exactly by the book. There's nothing to be done for it now. I don't trust that character either but he's given us the only lead we have, and we don't have the luxury to question it. We'll head for the waterfront and see if we can find them. I keep getting the feeling we're running out of time." No one missed the tiny hint of desperation in her tone.  
  
Waiting for their reaction, she suddenly became aware that she wasn't sure she was doing the right thing after all. Maybe they should ignore what this person said. There obviously wasn't any love lost between them, and he didn't have any reason to tell them the truth. Should they ignore Arin's words and look for more clues by themselves? Would they waste too much time going to check the warehouse at the lake?  
  
Her self-doubts turned her gaze inward, trying to study her turmoil from every angle, so she didn't notice when Brock pulled out his map. As he unfolded it Ash and Misty peered over each shoulder, and Pikachu was again on its trainer's head. They studied the paper for a moment, and then the older boy spoke. Aurora started at his words. "Sunset Lake's on the north side of town," reported Brock. "If we hurry we can get there in ten minutes."  
  
A grateful smile broke over Aurora's face, her duo-colored eyes thanking them without words. Her friends were still with her! The thought melted her hesitancy like butter in the sun. Friendship was something she had gone for too long without—except for Stormweaver of course. She hadn't known how comforting it could really be.  
  
The wild girl drew herself up to her full height. "Right. Then let's go." Determination had returned to her eyes. She marched across the plain tan carpet purposefully, the rest of the small group falling into line behind her. Striding out the front door of the Sankton Gym, without once looking back, her mind was so centered on their destination and what might await them there she completely forgot about the hint of movement she had seen outside the Pokemon Center.  
  
But Stormweaver hadn't. Remembering the question his dragonfriend had asked him, he looked around quickly as they emerged into the open air. Amazingly, he did spot something: a small flash of orange and white that vanished into the throng of milling people on the street when he turned his head in its direction. In and of itself it wouldn't have added up to much. It could have been a child or a pet or some other thing abounding in the city. But coupled with Aurora's observation earlier, that it seemed to be waiting for them outside of every building they entered, and vanishing before they could get a good look at it, made the dragon highly suspicious. Why was thing, whatever it was, following them?  
  
Aurora was already walking away, and so Stormweaver didn't have a choice whether or not he was leaving too. Craning his neck for one last look, he convinced himself the thing was truly gone. Whatever it had been, now was not the time to bring it up. They had matters that were more important to attend to now. An angry shame burned in the dragon. He had been enjoying the battle a little too much. He had forgotten his three siblings were in the hands of the enemy. He tried not to think about what might be happening to them. And he had been having fun! With a harsh mental reprimand, he forced his attention back to his five friends and their conversation.  
  
* * *  
  
Jeffery stood as straight as he could, eyes locked squarely ahead as he had been disciplined to. Not even the strand of sandy hair that had fallen across his nose and was itching fiercely moved him as he waited for his master to acknowledge his presence. He spoke not a word, arms firmly at his side, shoulders stiff, all in all a very uncomfortable position for such a young boy. Inside he begged the Sankton Gym leader to look his way, but not a flicker of emotion passed over his face to betray him. He was too well trained for that.  
  
At last Arin turned his attention to the boy. They were the same height—despite the fact that the Gym leader was years older—but his arrogance made him tower of Jeffery. The spiky blond tossed his Pokeball to him. "Take that to the Pokemon Center," he ordered. After an excellent catch and a smart nod, Jeffery was certain he was going to be dismissed. But to his surprise, Arin advanced until he and the boy stood nose-to-nose. The dark green eyes of the Gym leader were dangerously narrowed with cunning and ambition. His voice, when he spoke, was low and dripping with savored malice.  
  
"Now listen closely, I don't want to have to repeat myself. Go to the Pokemon Center with my Rhyhorn. Then go straight to Sunset Lake and find warehouse C-5. I want you there before those blockheads. Take every alleyway and shortcut you know. Tell Team Rocket I'm delivering the ones they want right to them. And I expect to be repaid for my service. I want that Stormweaver. Got it?"  
  
Another firm nod was his response, the only appropriate one, with his face still totally expressionless. And, secretly, Jeffery was glad Arin frowned upon his attendants ever speaking. His insides were quivering so badly he was afraid that, if asked to talk, it would give him away. So he was intensely grateful when the Gym leader waved a hand to dismiss him. Clutching the Pokeball, the young boy disappeared from his master's sight.  
  
When he was gone, Arin allowed a pleased smile to transform his face. If that Pokemon thought it was a good fighter with that idiot of a trainer, just wait until he got a hold of it. . . .  
  
* * *  
  
Jeffery hurried from the Pokemon Center, not daring to wait for the Rhyhorn to be healed. Those four kids had a big head start on him, and he had to obey Arin. He wasn't surprised or ashamed or even remotely interested in his master's plan. As a matter of fact, he had no opinion at all. It wasn't a servant's place to question his master.  
  
A person like Arin wasn't popular enough to become a Gym leader without a few little tricks up the sleeve, blackmail and the like. That was why Jeffery knew the alleys and shortcuts of the city like the back of his hand. This wasn't the first time he'd run such an errand, and it wouldn't be the last. Still, he didn't have time to spend waiting for the Pokemon. So he cut down his third alley quickly, without checking it as thoroughly as he might have if he hadn't been in such a hurry.  
  
That was a disastrous mistake. From deep within the shadows a low and angry growl issued forth like a challenge of doom itself. Jeffery jumped out of his thoughts as if burned. His head snapped back and forth like someone watching a brisk tennis match, trying to look in every direction at once. His heart was pounding like the drums of war. He caught swift movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled just in time to meet his attacker head on.  
  
A flash of orange, white and black was all he got before the assailant barreled into his chest, knocking him backward into the brick wall of the alley. Dazed, he slid down to the concrete, ordering to make his eyes focus. When they did he wished they hadn't. The gleam of white fangs and inhuman, white eyes with large dark pupils burning with the thrill of the attack were the last things he saw before his eyes mercifully rolled back into his head and darkness descended.  
  
He had fainted.  
  
* * *  
  
"I don't like the feel of this place," muttered Misty when the six friends found themselves at Sunset Lake. Despite the fact that it was only mid-afternoon, the entire waterfront seemed cast in shadow. This might have been because dilapidated warehouses squatted side-by-side around the edge of the large lake, forming narrow streets between themselves and the water, but if felt like something much more sinister. Old sailboats and a couple of dinghies were tied to the docks with limp ropes. All of these looked as if they hadn't been used in months. The wood was rotting, the sails were dingy and moth-eaten, and everything looked like it desperately needed a new coat of paint. However Sankton City got its commerce, fishing sure didn't have anything to do with it.  
  
"You'd think the water would be more populated since it's summer," the female trainer continued. "No one's fishing or swimming or catching water Pokemon or anything!"  
  
"Maybe there's an indoor pool somewhere," Ash ventured, but he too felt uneasy. Trying to cover it, he laughed abruptly, making everyone jump. "It certainly has atmosphere, doesn't it?"  
  
"Atmosphere like this I can do without," murmured Aurora. Her mismatched eyes were constantly moving, searching for the end of this surprise-laden journey: C-5. But every storage building looked the same, just row after row of low gray boxes. Only the signs with a single letter and number hanging above the hanger doors distinguished one from the other.  
  
Aurora hurried them down street after neglected street. They were close now, she could feel it. It was as if an invisible cord was pulling her forward, steadily forward, and she had never wanted to obey anything so strongly in her life. As if she had navigated the lanes all her life, she soon had them standing before warehouse C-5.  
  
The warehouse looked no different than any other. It was as gray and drab as the rest of them, and just as rundown. Ash and Misty's latest argument—the fundamentals of water Pokemon catching—died away as they watched Aurora noiselessly creep up to the huge hanger door that faced the lake. Set into it was a smaller door meant for people entering without cargo. Stormweaver perched on her shoulder, revealing his anxiety by the way his wings refused to stop twitching and the thrashing of his tail, as she sidled up to the smaller door and hesitantly tried the brass doorknob. When it turned easily she motioned for her friends.  
  
Brock, Misty, Ash and Pikachu hurried to join her. All four of them thought the same thing at that moment. They wanted to stop her, to warn her to think things through and make a plan before charging in. But the girl glared at them like she knew they were about to speak and shook her head fiercely. A current of nervous anticipation wound the small group tighter than a coiled spring, all but palpable in the sodden lakeside air. Aurora's brown and blue eyes shone with a strange intensity. Before anyone could caution her she eased open the door and slipped inside. There was nothing to do but follow.  
  
No lights brightened the inside of the storage building. Heavy darkness descended as the door closed partway, demanding silence much more than the single girl had done. It was hard enough just to breathe; words would have been sucked away by the darkness before they could have been uttered. When her eyes adjusted Aurora could see her friends as dark blue outlines, but anything beyond the group was still black as pitch.  
  
Black, that is, except for one patch of low light against the far wall. It flickered at least forty yards away, against the far wall of the huge open-floored building, and what seemed to be stacks of crates stretched between it and them. They couldn't tell who or what was using the light, if anything. But suddenly Stormweaver gave a savage growl and leapt off his dragonfriend's shoulder. Then Aurora heard what he apparently already had. Low voices drifted to the small party in the direction of the light across the room.  
  
"Stormweaver, come back!" hissed Aurora desperately, fearful of being overheard. But the dragon's flight had already taken him beyond hearing range, and he had vanished into the darkness. Aurora edged forward, undecided. She couldn't see, it would be safer to stay where she was. If she went charging after the emerald creature she might lose whatever advantage that sneaking up on Team Rocket would give them. But if she didn't, Stormweaver might get caught himself. The thought of losing her oldest and most trusted friend solved her dilemma for her. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, and she knew it, but at the moment she didn't care.  
  
"I'm going after him," she muttered to her four friends. Before they could object she cut them off, whispering directions. It was a small comfort to take charge again. "Misty, Brock, you two edge along the left wall and try to get behind them. Ash and Pikachu, you take the right. I'm going through straight across."  
  
"But you can't see!" Ash protested softly.  
  
"I'll just have to hope luck's on my side. Now hurry up, Stormweaver flies fast. Go!" She shoved the two pairs against the wall on either side of the door and didn't stop to see them start out. She set her mouth in a firm line of determination and plunged into the darkness. There was no time to be cautious. After the first few steps proved nothing littered the floor in her path (and hoping this was true for the rest of the room) she picked up her pace until she was dashing quickly but quietly across the gray concrete. To her, her footfalls sounded like the booming of war drums, but they were practically silent compared to the pounding of her heart. She swore she'd alert Team Rocket by that alone.  
  
Aurora didn't dare call for the green dragon again, though she thought she could faintly hear his wing-beats ahead of her. She couldn't see or any of her five friends in the darkness. The only thing she could see was the light she was steadily approaching, the wall of crates in the way keeping her just as invisible from the people on the other side as they were to her. Stormweaver must have been flying close to the ground to keep his approach secret, or else she would have seen his silhouette against the light. And Team Rocket would have seen him.  
  
That was when the gods of fate decided to deal her a wild card. She hadn't stopped her unbroken progress to make these observations, and she was mere yards from her destination when her foot came down on something that rolled away when she put her weight on it. With a wordless cry of surprise she went down hard on her hands and knees, wanting to bite her tongue for the traitorous sound made.  
  
But it was too late. To the wild girl's utter horror, harsh lights flashed on from the ceiling, blinding in their intensity and illuminating the entire floor. Aurora clenched her mismatched eyes shut against the stabbing of the sudden light even as she climbed back to her feet, knees and palms aching. She heard exclamations of shock from her friends and forced them open again, ignoring the needles of pain and the white stars that dotted her sight. What she saw was etched into her mind forever. Years later she wouldn't recall it for months, only to have it pop into her dreams again and awaken her. The sight was one she would never forget.  
  
Like some huge, life-size painting, reality seemed to have frozen. No one moved, and no one spoke. Even Stormweaver's wings appeared to have stilled, holding him in air above and between her and the wall of crates before her as if by magic alone. Against either wall to her left and right, she saw her new friends out of the corners of her eyes. She could see their expressions, their various eyes locked straight ahead on faces filled with shock and alarm. But she didn't indulge in studying them long. Her attention was fixed on the group that had stepped in front of the crates as the bright lights exploded into existence. Team Rocket she recognized, complete with her beige backpack! It was the fourth person who held the gazes of all the people in the warehouse.  
  
She was tall and thin, with rippling muscles plainly visible under sable leather armor. Her dark auburn hair fell in flawless waves down her back, actually giving Jessie serious competition. A face as cold as unblemished marble, complete with stone-gray eyes, completed the air of perfection. At her hip hung a long scabbard with a jeweled hilt. The sight of the woman drove terror like nothing she had known in a long time shooting through Aurora. She knew this woman, had seen those steel eyes before. And she knew with deathly certainty what she was doing here.  
  
Stormweaver was the first to break the stillness in the building, bringing everyone back to life. "Murderer!" he screamed in a voice no one had ever heard him use before—including Aurora. Fury was not strong enough to describe his tone, and under it his dragonfriend heard a tremor of true terror. Fear for his very life, and those of the ones he loved. "Slayer! Merlac! You butchered my kind, you filth!"  
  
The woman gave a feral grin and drew her sword with a mocking bow. When she spoke, her voice was as frigid as her features. "Allia Merlac, at your service, beast. Come closer and you'll join the rest of your worthless kind at the end of my blade."  
  
"No!" Aurora cried in anguish when she saw he was about to swoop at the woman. "Stormweaver, return!" When he hesitated she added, "Please!" A dangerous noise rumbled in his long throat. Snarling in the direction of his four enemies, he finally gliding to her shoulder.  
  
Following the descending dragon, Allia's eyes fell on the girl standing defiantly alone in the center of the room. And if Aurora was terrified before, it was nothing like the ice that flowed through her veins as they lighted on her. There was recognition in the dragonslayer's eyes. "Ah. Aurora Sango, I presume? I hadn't thought you had survived. You've grown a lot since I came looking for the last dragonfriend."  
  
"Y-you didn't find us, either!" she returned.  
  
"True, but I seem to have compensated for that fact now, hmm?" A dark, scornful laughter shone in her gray eyes as she took the backpack from Jessie. Stormweaver tensed and Aurora felt her stomach sink into her shoes, even as her heart jumped into her throat. She had hoped the dragonslayer was here for any reason other than that, had prayed she didn't know of the life held in that little bag. For the first time the wild girl considered this adventure might be her last.  
  
Then she felt she wasn't alone. Glancing to her right and left, she saw her new friends had come to stand beside her courageously. Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty wore identical expressions of anger, directed at their old enemies. Five against four the two groups faced each other, and it seemed an all-out fight would break out any moment. But Team Rocket abruptly discovered they were outnumbered. They knew only one way to even the odds.  
  
"Arbok, go!"  
  
"Go Weezing!"  
  
As the two poison Pokemon—joined by Meowth—leaped forward, Brock and Misty pulled out their own Pokeballs with relief. Battles were something the Pokemon trainers could understand and handle, dragons and family feuds were a little out of their league.  
  
"Pikachu, Thundershock, now!"  
  
"Geodude, I choose you!"  
  
"Go Starmie!"  
  
Pride filled Aurora Sango, pride and a humble gratitude for such friendship. As the six Pokemon clashed in battle overseen by their five trainers, she turned to Allia Merlac. She was still afraid, only a fool wouldn't be, but now a determination as hard as the steel in the dragonslayer's eyes enveloped her. Allia held the three eggs in one gloved hand, but she could not use them as hostages to escape. Aurora would not allow what happened with Team Rocket in her forest to happen again. If they were able to retreat now, any future outcome would be the same. They would threaten her with the destruction of the eggs and get away. Not this time.  
  
Allia wasn't planning on retreating anyway. She had been ordered to capture the child that stood before her years ago, and had failed. It had been an unredeemable black mark on her for a long time. This dragonfriend wouldn't escape her again, her dragon either. Not this time. "What are you waiting for?" she hissed at the girl. "Attack me!" Her thin sword flashed in the harsh light.  
  
Aurora looked around wildly for a weapon. A length of old pipe lay on the floor scant feet away, and she realized this was what had tripped her. How ironic that the very thing that had exposed her would be what she defended herself with. "Create a diversion," she muttered to Stormweaver, who growled gladly.  
  
"You will pay for what you did to my family!" he thundered as he sprang at the dragonslayer. But his anger had cooled enough for him to think. Stopping outside the range of her blade, he hovered and summoned a Charmander's Flamethrower and threw it straight at the woman's chest. So fast she was a blur that spoke of years of training, Allia unstrapped a light wooden shield covered in the same black leather as her outfit from her back and brought it up in one fluid motion. She held it steady under the force of the attack, even though she had to use the hand already clutching the straps of the beige pack to hold the shield. The flames were amazingly halted by the simple cover, and Allia remained untouched.  
  
She laughed at the dragon when the column of fire ceased. "It's been years since a dragon and a Merlac have faced each other, beast. But we didn't stopped developing our defenses just because our foes seemed vanquished. I think you'll find your precious Mimic quite useless with my weapons—hey!"  
  
As soon as Stormweaver left her shoulder Aurora threw herself at the pipe on the floor. Her movements felt agonizingly slow to her, but she prayed she moved fast enough to take Allia by surprise. Curling her hand around one end of the cool metal, she didn't bother to scramble to her feet but hurled herself at the dragonslayer from the ground. She had thought to swing the length of pipe at the woman's legs, hopefully taking her down, but briefly hesitated when it actually came time to strike. Aurora had never attacked anyone or anything in her life. Her conscience held her back when she heard Allia's cry of surprise.  
  
That hesitation nearly cost her her life. Recovering way too fast for Aurora's comfort, the dragonslayer swung her sword down fast even as she kept her shield up in case Stormweaver tried to attack again. Suddenly thoughts of right and wrong were driven out of Aurora's mind as she struggled to raise the pipe to meet the blade and found herself just trying to stay alive.  
  
The emerald dragon hovered uncertainly above the two figures, wanting to help his dragonfriend. But the Merlac and the Sango were fighting like wildcats now, a fury of flashing metal and ringing clangs. He could hardly tell where one ended and the other began, and couldn't risk attacking and hitting Aurora instead. Not to mention his siblings were in there somewhere! Wishing fervently that his Fear worked on humans, Stormweaver knew there was nothing he could do. Aurora was on her own . . . for now.  
  
Wheeling to see what he could do for the battling Pokemon, the dragon swooped down and clouted Meowth on the back of the head just in time to save a momentarily dazed Pikachu from a nasty scratch. Here, at least, was somewhere he could be of help. Goaded by the helplessness he felt for being unable to help Aurora, he attacked with a furor that turned the tide for his side.  
  
Arbok, dark cowl spread, bared its fangs and snapped at the giant purple starfish before it, trying to catch the glinting red jewel in its jaws. Weezing and Geodude sparred in a patch of sludge as Pikachu and Stormweaver combined a Thundershock that literally blasted Meowth into Jessie and James, knocking all three members of Team Rocket to the ground. Masters gone, the two poison Pokemon faltered in their battles. Starmie and Geodude slipped through their defenses and both scored heavily. Soon the giant snake and its partner retreated back into their Pokeballs in defeat.  
  
"That's it!" Meowth muttered as he painstakingly got to his feet again, slightly smoking. "I don't care if the Boss is gettin' paid a fortune for those oversized chicken eggs. I'm outta here!" He crossed his paws over his chest. "Team Rocket's done its part and—oof!"  
  
Meowth found himself on his back, flattened by someone about his size, with smoldering lime green eyes mere centimeters from his own. "You," the dragon growled in a way that made the Pokemon sweat, "may cost me my little brothers and sisters' lives. If any harm comes to them, I'll spend the rest of my days tracking down your wonderful Team Rocket—and you in particular, Meowth—and making sure you pay." When the cat-like Pokemon opened his mouth Stormweaver cut him off with a snarl. "Go now. Run back to your Boss and tell him that messing in the affairs of dragons is a bad idea. We tend to hold a grudge." Sharp white teeth flashed in Meowth's face at the last word. When the Pokemon offered no further objections, as frozen as when the dragon had used his Fear on him, Stormweaver slowly receded until he stood beside Pikachu and its two battle mates.  
  
The four fighters stood in front of Ash, Brock and Misty as Team Rocket wisely decided to flee. No one stopped them, and Stormweaver rose his head proudly as they ran. He had defended his honor and repaid the villains who had stolen the three eggs under his protection, though he felt they hadn't suffered nearly enough. The thought reminded him: Aurora! Realizing how quickly events had progressed, how little time had actually passed since he had had to leave his dragonfriend, he whirled toward the sounds of metal on metal that could still be heard clashing not ten feet away. While Brock and Misty recalled their Pokemon, Ash and Pikachu joined Stormweaver in his attention on the fighters.  
  
Aurora's world had narrowed to two very simple thoughts. Her desperation couldn't make up for the dragonslayer's skill with a sword, but she managed to keep from getting killed. Neither had really scored a hit on the other, the battle was reduced to one attacking and one defending, not giving ground but not gaining either. Aurora's short hair was damp with sweat and kept falling into her eyes, a fact that she didn't let distract her. Her whole upper body ached with fatigue. How could this Allia not look as if she was ready to collapse? Aurora was sure she did.  
  
Her first thoughts centered on keeping herself alive and well, but the entire time she fought her eyes were solely locked on the beige backpack in Allia's firm grip. In such an intense battle, the three eggs inside would surely have been crushed despite their protective covering in minutes, but the dragonslayer was being as careful at keeping them undamaged as Aurora was. Not that the wild girl suspected she felt any sort of compassion for them; she was sure the Merlac had a plan in mind that needed them to succeed. And this fact more than any other made Aurora determined to stop the dragonslayer.  
  
Aurora's arm muscles screamed as she met another blow of the sword with her pipe. She couldn't stand much more of this. One of them was going to slip up soon, and she didn't feel it was going to be Allia. Meeting the woman's gray eyes, she saw them fierce and glad. The Merlac was reveling in the battle, could keep it up all night, the eyes were telling her. Desperate, the girl with the mismatched gaze just wanted some way out of this.  
  
Then something presented itself.  
  
The sword had etched faint white grooves down the length of the pipe as they had collided again and again. Caught in one now, the dragonfriend and the dragonslayer were for once still, trying to push each other off balance with their weapons. While Allia was the stronger of the two, Aurora had better leverage for the moment. But a slight movement suddenly disengaged the weapons. The sword slipped and flashed by Aurora's right ear, coming perilously close, as the pipe shot forward and tangled itself in the backpack's straps.  
  
This was the opportunity she had been looking for. Giving a mighty yank, Aurora ripped the backpack and the shield right out of Allia's hand. Both objects went sailing into the air with the force.  
  
"Stormweaver!" she yelled in horror as the beige bag arched and began to plummet. The dragon had already launched himself skyward. He rose to meet it, wrapped his forelegs around the middle, and flapped hard. But the backpack was almost as big as the dragon himself. Still falling, albeit slowly, he managed to coast until he was just over Misty's head. The pack and its precious cargo dropped into her waiting hands safely.  
  
"All right!" her friends cheered her catch triumphantly. Aurora pumped a fist into the air, not even noticing the pipe had slid out of her nerveless fingers a moment ago. Ash, Brock and Pikachu converged around the redhead as Stormweaver circled above happily. It was over! She had done it! They had won!  
  
A dangerous noise behind her reminded Aurora it wasn't over. She whirled just in time to see Allia looming over her, sword raised above her head and fury written on her once-cool face. There was no time to move or retrieve her weapon or even to pray. She could only feel a quick pang of wistful happiness, knowing Stormweaver and his siblings would be in good hands, as the blade descended.  
  
And Allia suddenly wasn't there anymore.  
  
Aurora blinked in confusion, vaguely wondering why she wasn't dead. The pain in her head didn't make thinking any easier. Raising her hand to brush against her forehead, she was mildly surprised to find her fingers stained red. The end of the sword had just nicked her, then. Realizing how close a call it had been, Aurora's whole body began to shiver uncontrollably. The warehouse's lights chose that moment to go out.  
  
The next thing the wild girl knew, she was lying on her back on the floor of the building. Above her were the faces of all her friends, wearing identical looks of concern. "What happened?" she murmured.  
  
Brock was holding a handkerchief to her head. "That lady almost got you," he told her. "We wouldn't have been able to stop her in time."  
  
"But your eggs are all right," Misty put in, the backpack still safe in her arms. "I checked; they're fine."  
  
"Pika chu," Pikachu confirmed.  
  
"Are you?" asked Ash worriedly. She tried to nod to him, but it hurt too much.  
  
"I'll be all right," she said instead. "Stormweaver?"  
  
"I'm right here," was the immediate reply. His long face came into view above her. "You've only been out a second. You fainted," he added unnecessarily.  
  
"No kidding. Thanks," she told Brock, taking hold of the handkerchief herself and extending her other hand for someone to help her up. Ash grabbed it and gently pulled her to her feet. "What stopped Allia?"  
  
But no one needed to tell her. The dragonslayer lay slumped on the floor before them, and it was obvious from her position that she had hit the crates behind her hard, then fell to the floor. She was unconscious and her blade had been pointedly removed.  
  
Between the group of friends and the downed woman stood a proud creature, orange and white with black stripes. Its inhuman white eyes with large dark pupils stared at her protectively.  
  
"A Growlithe!" Aurora exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, you should have seen it!" Ash burst out in admiration. "It came barreling in here and jumped between you two like lightning. It knocked that woman right into the crates and knocked her out." His voice became sullen. "I wanted to catch it, but Stormweaver wouldn't let me."  
  
She felt the dragon jump up to his usual place on her shoulder. "Growlithe says it wants to be your Pokemon, Aurora. It doesn't want to battle; it wants to apply for the position of Protector of the Dragons and Their Dragonfriends." Stormweaver grinned, making the words an honored title. "I told it it's not exactly a paying job, but it insisted. Right, Growlithe?"  
  
The puppy Pokemon stepped up to Aurora and bobbed its head as if giving a quick bow. "Growl lithe!" it announced importantly, and everyone had to laugh. It sounded like it was offering itself to a respected sire.  
  
Aurora cut herself off, mid-chuckle. "You were the one following us, weren't you?" she realized, eyeing the tiger-striped creature suspiciously.  
  
The Growlithe hung its head in atonement and whimpered. "Lithe. Growlithe, growl."  
  
Stormweaver interpreted. "It says its been shadowing us since we left the forest," he reported. "And that we have it to thank for stopping someone trying to make trouble for us."  
  
"Arin, from that Gym, I'll bet," Misty snorted angrily. "I knew he was up to something."  
  
The suspicion passed from Aurora's face. "Then I guess we're in your debt, Growlithe. I don't have any Pokeballs to offer you, but you're more than welcome to join us. Sorry, Ash."  
  
"Aw, that's okay," the trainer shrugged. "I can't make it come with me if it doesn't want to." The wild girl smiled in appreciation.  
  
Then an alarmed look chased it off her face. "What about Team Rocket?" She looked around wildly as if expecting the three members to leap out of hiding and attack now that she remembered them.  
  
Her friends laughed again as they recalled the battle. It seemed they were all a little slaphappy, now that the action was over. Aurora wondered if it was their bodies' way of dealing with all the sudden stress. Or maybe it was their minds' way of retaining their sanity. It abruptly occurred to her that she had fought against a trained swordswoman with nothing more than a piece of pipe. A tiny cut on the head could have been the last of her worries. Shaking the thought away, the wild girl returned her attention to Ash's explanations.  
  
The black-haired trainer was congratulating himself quite thoroughly. "Ha ha! They didn't stand a chance! It was Ash Ketchum: 45, Team Rocket: 0!"  
  
Brock and Misty stared at him irritably and cleared their throats together. "Pika," his Pokemon warned, its cheek pouches sparking.  
  
"Oh . . . uh, well, it was a group effort really," he amended. At their encouraging looks he added, "And Stormweaver helped too."  
  
The dragon tried to put on an air of nobility, but failed miserably when he broke into chuckles. "Did you see Meowth?" he laughed. "He was so scared I thought that stupid gold thing was going to fall right off his head!" Everyone broke down at that, and now Aurora was sure there was a hint of hysterics in the sound. When the laughter died down there was a bit of silence, broken by the oddest sound.  
  
"Eeep!"  
  
Everyone turned in the direction of the sound: to Misty. "It wasn't me!" she objected, twin spots of red appearing on her cheeks.  
  
"Eeep! Eeep!"  
  
Stormweaver was the first to make the connection. "The bag!" he gasped. Aurora caught on next, eagerly reached for the backpack. Her face was now alight with joy as it was handed over. Misty, Brock and Ash shared a look of puzzlement while the girl sank to her knees on the concrete floor. But when she opened the top and began pulling out the soft grass cushioning, they understood. Four humans, two Pokemon and a dragon crouched down, forming a circle around the hasty nest Aurora fashioned out of the grass as she gently placed the dragon eggs on top. The three orbs were vibrating strongly, and the odd noises were issuing forth from inside.  
  
Not one of the seven onlookers could have told afterward how long they kneeled there. Cramped muscles, injuries or other fatigues from their various battles were forgotten as they watched. Eyes remained riveted as jagged cracks appeared in the colorful shells of the hatching eggs, cracks that widened and eventually broke off small pieces. Other than a slight shift of weight or the occasional sigh of wonder, the group was motionless and silent. As if the spell that froze time had stuck again, the world was still.  
  
When it was over they sat back on their collective heels with deep breaths of relief and even deeper awe. Aurora looked at her friends and saw an almost sacred expression on their grinning faces, as if they had witnessed something holy or miraculous. It was the same feeling that had been in the air the night she had shared the secret of the backpack with them, only intensified. Smiling so hard it made her face hurt, she looked back down on the grass nest.  
  
With the spell broken, Stormweaver had curled himself around the nest in brotherly love. Pikachu stood on one side of him, round eyes shining, with Growlithe on the other, obviously guarding its new charges. Aurora, Misty, Ash and Brock made an outer circle as they sat down on the ground.  
  
The three new hatchlings looked a lot like Stormweaver, save their different colors and the fact that they were smaller. Like the eggs they had rested in moments before, one of the baby dragons was a pale rose, the others sky blue and soft yellow. Their eyes were tightly closed, their ears plastered to their heads. Not yet strong enough to fold wings much too big for them, they hung limp and wet as butterflies'. And only the pink one had Stormweaver's horn between her nostrils (nothing but a speck of one really). The blue had one slightly larger horn above each eye, while the yellow had none at all. After their initial cries and movements had subsided, they had foundered through the grass and eggshells until finding Stormweaver's warm body and falling into content slumber.  
  
A gentle storm of loving emotions shone in his lime green eyes—and a few tears of joy—when he looked up at his friends. "Thank you, everyone," he whispered. "I am alone no longer. Dragons are again in the world."  
  
He wasn't the only one misty-eyed. "You're brothers and sisters are beautiful," murmured the redheaded girl, brushing her hand across her own blue-green eyes.  
  
"Brothers and sister," he corrected, bestowing another fond gaze on the three sleeping infants.  
  
"How can you tell?" wondered Ash with a frown.  
  
"I just can."  
  
Brock stood up and motioned for the others to join him and led them a few steps away. Stormweaver didn't move; neither did Growlithe. "Newborns need their sleep," the tall boy began in a lecturing tone. "And when they wake up they're going to be hungry. We'll have to find someway to keep them warm, but we can't put them in your backpack anymore, Aurora. . . ." He continued on with the things newborn creatures would need and want and she, remembering how much Brock wanted to be a breeder, giggled to herself.  
  
Misty was still admiring the babies from afar. "I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt such beautiful creatures," she said to herself.  
  
But her words caused Aurora to blanch as they reminded her. "Oh no, Allia!" she gasped, whirling to the wall of crates where the dragonslayer's body had fallen.  
  
Allia Merlac was gone.  
  
The group of five rushed over to examine the area. It was Pikachu who discovered the second exit behind the crates. "Pika pi!" it called urgently. As the four humans followed its voice it scampered to the door swinging open in the breeze. A view of Sunset Lake, turned red by the very act it was named after, shone through the doorway. The electric Pokemon stopped at the exit and looked back questionably.  
  
"Let it go, Pikachu," Aurora sighed wearily, suddenly feeling the day's actions catching up with her. "It's over, and we have more important things to worry about."  
  
* * *  
  
It was a tired, bedraggled party of seven (plus three) that appeared at the doors of the Pokemon Center in Sankton City just as the first stars were blinking into existence that evening. Nurse Joy took one look at them and immediately cleared her schedule. Ushering them into a modest room emptied especially for them, she ordered her assistants to prepare food, hot baths and beds. The latter was reserved until after questions had been answered, but the group got its fill of the first two eagerly.  
  
Aurora had just returned to the room, still toweling her short hair dry (while being careful not to disturb the dressing over her cut), to find everyone else present and happily sated. Nurse Joy, whom Aurora found to be a caring and trustworthy person, was tucking the last of a pile of warm blankets around the again-slumbering trio of hatchlings. The little ones had practically emptied the Pokemon Center of its supply of fish and seafood, (Brock had been right, they acted as if they might never get another chance to eat again) and then sent up the most piteous cries imaginable until warm enough to fall asleep. Growlithe had refused to leave their sides since entering the building.  
  
Misty, Brock and Ash lounged on three of the four cots that had been erected against the walls, while Stormweaver stretched out on one side of the nest of blankets on the counter and Growlithe vigilantly sat at attention the other. Aurora saw Nurse Joy's questioning blue eyes set on her upon entering the room. She wondered if her friends had refused to explain what had happened, waiting for her. "I suppose you're wondering how the only Pokemon trainer to ever discover a Stormweaver suddenly found three more of them, hmm?" she addressed the nurse.  
  
"The thought had crossed my mind," admitted Joy.  
  
Aurora sighed in resignation as she slouched onto her cot. She wanted nothing more than to fall into a deep sleep and preferably not wake up for a week, but she knew she owed the Pokemon Center, if not Nurse Joy herself, some answers. Raising her head to look the Pokemon caregiver straight in the eyes, she stated, "Nurse Joy, I'm sorry, but I lied to you. These aren't Pokemon at all. These are dragons."  
  
Her quartet of friends gasped, their own fatigue momentarily forgotten. Stormweaver hissed in alarm. Growlithe growled. Nurse Joy looked confused. Aurora sighed again. Then she motioned for the pink-haired nurse to take a seat and launched into the lengthy tale. She told her all she knew of the dragons, of the feud between the Sangos and the Merlacs, of the slayings and the pillage of Sango Manor. She told of the hatching of Stormweaver, and the "haunting" of the forest to the south. Then she told how she had met the traveling foursome, and the theft of the dragon eggs. She recounted how they had followed the thieves into Sankton, the encounter in the warehouse, the hatching of the three eggs, and the disappearance of the dragonslayer.  
  
And through the entire narrative, she saw her friends' jaws dropping lower and lower with every word. Concluding, she turned to them and tried to trudge up a weary smile. "I've done a lot of thinking, guys," she told them. "We can't hide anymore, certainly not with the little ones. It's time this world remembers its forgotten people. With Growlithe to protect us, we'll be safer. We can bring the knowledge of dragons back." The night had darkened remarkably through the windows of the room. It was very late by the time Aurora had finished. Thoroughly exhausted, she slumped against the wall and closed her duo-colored eyes.  
  
Opening them again, the wild girl saw Nurse Joy looked surprised. Not shocked, not amazed, not stupefied or even afraid. Just surprised. Somehow Aurora wasn't. She had the impression this was just the kind of person Nurse Joy was. The young woman carefully straightened her nurse's cap on her head and patted her hair into place as she stood up. "Well, I'm glad you brought this to my attention, Aurora. There isn't much any of you can do tonight. Why don't you get some sleep, and I'll make some calls. Don't worry, you'll be safe in the Pokemon Center."  
  
Smiling understandingly at all of them, she turned to leave and closed the door securely after her. But instead of immediately moving away, she paused and listened through the closed door. Five voices were talking lowly but adamantly in the room, sounding as if the topic was one of monumental importance. Nurse Joy predicated they wouldn't be sleeping for a while yet, and resolved to make sure no one disturbed the poor kids until late the next morning.  
  
* * *  
  
Four days later a quite diverse party met atop a hill just north of Sankton City. Behind and below them the city lay sleeping as the sun began to peak over the horizon in the west, to their left. A ten-year-old boy in a red and white Official Pokemon League hat stood between a redheaded girl and a tall boy in a green vest. A yellow electric mouse waited patiently at his feet for them to be on their way.  
  
Across from the four stood a girl with one eye a warm brown and the other turquoise blue. The sun on her brown hair made the hidden strands of blonde and auburn glint like gold and rubies. On one of her shoulders sat a green lizard-like creature with Golbat-like wings and a small horn between its nostrils. On the other a similar creature—though smaller and sky blue—clutched the strap of her backpack with tiny talons in an attempt to hang on. A surreptitious emerald tail snaked around behind her back and steadied the young one. At the girl's feet a black-striped, orange pup stood proudly. Something resembling miniature saddlebags were buckled under and across its chest, and a pink and yellow head poked out of each to look around at the scenery in interest.  
  
"Well," the girl with the mismatched eyes sighed in a tone content with life, though tinged with remorse. "I guess this is where we split up, huh guys?"  
  
No less enjoying the separation, her four friends nodded. "Have you decided where you're heading, Aurora?" the boy in the cap asked.  
  
"We're heading south, back through Sankton and through the woods to tell the wild Pokemon that the city knows the truth about the ghosts." She suddenly grinned and shrugged at the same time. "Then we'll go wherever the wind takes us. Stopping in towns and cities, spreading the truth about the dragons like my family use to." Her eyes unfocused as she looked far away, into the future. "Maybe the Sangos won't be the only humans that want to help the dragons. Maybe we'll find more Pokemon that want to apply for the position of Protector of Dragons and Their Dragonfriends. And maybe there are other dragons out there still alive, hidden and unknown to the world and each other. Whatever we find, we can really make a difference." She came back to herself abruptly. "Anyway, we're not alone any longer, and I plan on keeping it that way. And the more people who know about us, the harder it will be for the likes of Team Rocket and the dragonslayers to pull anything. But what about you, Ash?"  
  
He grinned. "We're heading for the next city that has a Pokemon Gym, and we're going to get a Gym badge! Right, Pikachu?"  
  
"Pika!"  
  
"I should have guessed," laughed Aurora. She sobered just a quickly. "So . . . this is goodbye then."  
  
Misty came forward to clasp her hand, wanting to hug her but also not wanting to disturb the two dragons. "Be careful out there, Aurora. There's a lot more than a single forest and a city to worry about."  
  
"You too, Misty. Try to keep Ash from getting such a big head."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Brock was next, and he shook her hand earnestly. "Don't be afraid to stop at a Pokemon Center if anything comes up you can't handle. They're there to help you out. You have three infants to think about now."  
  
She smiled. "That's the very first thing on my mind, Brock. You really do care. And you make a great breeder. Thank you."  
  
Ash was last. "You were the one, Ash," she told him earnestly. "You were the one who started all of this. And I thank you for it. I'm so lucky to be able to call you my friend."  
  
The black-haired boy looked at the ground and blushed. "Gee, Aurora, you were the one who let us pass through the woods. You could have turned us back." He looked up to stare her in the eye. "I bet you'll do great out there. With you working on it, the dragons will be accepted in no time." Her face broke into a smile of gratitude.  
  
"Farewell, Pikachu!" Stormweaver fluttered a wing at the Pokemon from his perch as the quartet prepared themselves to set out. "Thank you for the lesson. I'll practice that Thundershock."  
  
"Pika pikachu!"  
  
Aurora's gaze took in all four of them. "Thank you all. I have no doubt that without your intervention I never would have had the courage to leave my forest. Now I know what I need to do, and I will do it. I hope your futures are as bright as mine looks today. Goodbye, my friends. Maybe we'll meet again."  
  
Calling their last good-byes over their shoulders, her four friends started north once again, down the other side of the hill. Aurora stood on the hilltop and waved until they were out of sight, her mind recalling the memories of the last four days.  
  
There had been no way to keep the existence of four live, supposedly mythological creatures secret for very long. Before noon of the day she had awoken in the Pokemon Center, the building had been packed with curious people. Everyone from history scholars, to Pokemon trainers, to the merely intrigued wanted to know the tale behind the girl and her four miraculous beasts. Rumors had spread like wildfire. People had come from all edges of the city and beyond, hoping for a glimpse of the amazing creature that had wiped the floor with the Sankton Gym leader's Pokemon. (They were rumors, after all. And not many liked Arin very much.)  
  
Aurora had found herself telling her story again and again to more and more people, until she wanted to scream every time someone asked, "Can I hear it from the beginning, please?"  
  
It had gotten so bad that the local police force had to be called in to keep the peace. Between Nurse Joy and a blue-haired woman who had introduced herself as Officer Jenny, they had managed to instill some semblance of order.  
  
And everyone had wanted to see the newborns. Growlithe had stood over them day and night, refusing to leave its position and chasing people away with a snarl or bark when the infants were frightened or tired. But once Brock and Nurse Joy had learned the pup hadn't moved in over fifteen hours, much less eaten or slept, they had installed Pikachu to guard in its place and ordered it to take a break. After that the two Pokemon had traded shifts. Aurora and Stormweaver would have liked to be with them more, but there wasn't a moment to spare. Every second had been filled with answering questions, allowing oneself to be examined, or flopping down into a dead sleep when one got the chance. Aurora had never liked a bed so much as during those four days.  
  
When the town learned she was well enough to be on her way and was planning to leave, things had been thrown into an uproar. Brock, Ash and Misty quickly decided they were getting on their way too, having been questioned and bothered just as much as the girl and her dragons. But the people of Sankton wouldn't let them leave without a festive farewell. Some kids even wanted to join her, but she and their own families talked them out of it, explaining politely that the three infants would be very upset traveling with humans they didn't know. However, nothing could be done to talk the folks out of the gifts they insisted the "brave young girl who risked life and limb to save creatures that time forgot" (quote from the Sankton newspaper front page) so rightly deserved.  
  
The saddlebags made especially for Growlithe were one of these. A small pouch of money hanging at her waist was another, and her faithful beige backpack now held provisions and a sleeping-roll instead of grass and dragon eggs. She had begged off the others. (Including someone's real diamond necklace—what would she have done with that?) Aurora had been shocked at the way the town had adopted her and the dragons. For so long she had been afraid people would treat the dragons as the Merlacs did, but that wasn't the case with the people of Sankton at all! Escaping before dawn had been the only way to have a private farewell with her friends.  
  
Aurora sighed, a noise that sounded as final as the last gust of cool wind before the heat of summer hit, as the distant black specks of the four figures totally disappeared. She looked at each of her companions in turn. Stormweaver, with his lime green eyes gazing across her shoulders at his brother with love. Growlithe, radiating a proud honor stronger than words.  
  
Then her gaze went to each of the little ones. The blue with his bright golden eyes, the pink with twin orbs as azure as her brother's scales, and the yellow with eyes of the softest violet. They had opened just yesterday—one of the prime reasons in her decision to leave, assured that they wouldn't be quite as helpless as they traveled—and already the babies were taking in every sight as enthusiastically as they could.  
  
"Well Dawnjewel, Stardancer, Sunsong, I guess this is it. Everyone ready to go?"  
  
To her delight the infants chirruped as if they understood. Growlithe barked his assent, and Stormweaver grinned. "Let's hurry," he insisted, "before those people down there wake up."  
  
"Amen to that!" Laughing, happy, and surrounded by friends and content with her vision of the future, Aurora turned and began making her way back down the hill, toward the quite city of Sankton. 


End file.
